FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

(WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 14, 2006) The Hon. Ronald P. Spogli, U.S. ambassador to Italy, and Dr. A. Kenneth Ciongoli, National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) chairman, will join prominent Italian and Italian- American scholars and cultural experts at the Roman Roundtable: The Future of Italy as Cultural and Intellectual Center of Western Civilization.

The NIAF-sponsored conference will be held on Tuesday, June 20 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Villa Taverna, the residence of the United States ambassador. Participants will discuss Italy’s future as the cultural and intellectual center of Western civilization. Ambassador Spogli will give welcoming remarks and Dr. Ciongoli will moderate the conference.

This year’s inaugural Roman Roundtable, held under the auspices of the NIAF Public Policy Institute, will bring together nationally and internationally known intellectuals to discuss this timely issue. Participants include Emmanuele Emanuele, chairman of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Roma;Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts; Jay Parini, Axinn Professor of English atMiddlebury College; Hon. Marcello Pera, former president of the Italian Senate, and Carlo Sartori, chairman of RAI-SAT.

Interested media representatives wishing to cover the conference are required to register at the U.S. Embassy Press Office by telephone (39) 06 46742426 or fax (39) 06 46742655 no later than Monday, June 19 at 12 noon.