The Rt. Hon. Sir Conor Burns to Headline Prestigious List of Speakers During Churchill Fellows Weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fulton, Mo. – April 18, 2025: The Rt. Hon. Sir Conor Burns will headline the 2025 Churchill Fellows Weekend, April 25-26 at America’s National Churchill Museum (ANCM) on the Westminster College campus. He will deliver the 38th Enid and R. Crosby Kemper Lecture, “World Peace, Trade and Rules-Based Order,” at 10 a.m. on April 26 in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury.

All events listed below are free and open to the public.

A longtime UK Member of Parliament, Burns has held senior government roles, including Minister for Trade Policy and Trade Envoy to the United States. He was knighted in 2023.

“We are honored to welcome Sir Conor Burns to America’s National Churchill Museum as the keynote speaker for Churchill Fellows Weekend,” said Robbie Pratte, ANCM’s Director of Museum Operations. “His distinguished career and deep commitment to public service embody the very values that Winston Churchill championed.”

Pratte added that the weekend’s events ― which will begin at 11:30 a.m. on April 25 with a comprehensive tour of ANCM and culminate at 10 a.m. on April 26 with the Kemper Lecture and formal Churchill Fellows induction ceremony ― will be interesting to a wide variety of people.

“With everything we have planned, including our dynamic lineup of lectures on subjects from architecture and art to museum studies and rare Churchill collections, there really is something for every curious mind,” Pratte reflected.

More information on the schedule, speakers and Churchill Fellows can be found at NationalChurchillMuseum.org

2025 Churchill Fellows Weekend Schedule

Friday, April 25

Location: ANCM/Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury

11:30 a.m.
Tour of ANCM with Steve Stinson, Class of 1973

1 p.m. – “We Shape our Buildings, and Afterwards They Shape Us”
Angie Gaebler, President of Kansas-City based STRATA Architecture

1:40 p.m. – The Churchill Image
Don Wiegand, Churchill Fellow and Sculptor
Julia Holofcener, Producer for Alliance and Wife of the Late Lawrence Holofcener, Allies Sculpture Creator on New Bond Street in London

2:20 p.m. – The Future of the Past: Museum Studies
Dr. Nichol Allen, Assistant Professor of Museum Studies/History and Museum Studies Program Coordinator
Carter Murray, Class of 2026 and Museum Studies Minor

3 p.m. – A Churchill Treasury
Brian E. Krapf, Author of A Churchill Treasury

3:40 p.m. – Collecting Churchill: Museums and Markets
Miller Gaffney, Art Consultant and Appraiser
Tim Riley, ANCM’s Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout Director and Chief Curator

Saturday, April 26

Location: Latshaw Plaza

9:30 a.m. – Rededication of Franta Belsky’s Sculpture of Winston Churchill

Location: Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury

10 a.m. – “World Peace, Trade and Rules-Based Order” by The Rt. Hon. Sir Conor Burns: The Enid and R. Crosby Kemper Lecture and Induction of New Churchill Fellows

ABOUT SIR CONOR BURNS: Elected to the UK Parliament in 2010, Sir Conor Burns prominently served in the Foreign Office under Prime Minister Boris Johnson as minister for trade policy. He also worked in other capacities in Parliament as well as minister of state for Northern Ireland. Most recently, Burns was the prime minister’s trade envoy to the United States for Trade and Investment, serving under UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch. He was appointed to the Privy Council by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth in 2019. In 2023, he was appointed Knight Batchelor and knighted at an investiture by Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle.

ABOUT WESTMINSTER COLLEGE AND ANCM: Founded in 1851, Westminster College is the site of Winston Churchill’s historic “Iron Curtain” speech and home to America’s National Churchill Museum — recognized by Congress as the nation’s official tribute to Churchill’s legacy. The College is ranked among The Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges in the Midwest” for 2025 and is one of only 37 full-participation institutions with the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition as recognized by the Higher Learning Commission. With a 90%+ job or grad school placement rate and alumni earnings in the top 16% nationally, Westminster prepares students to lead and make an impact. Learn more at WCMO.edu or NationalChurchillMuseum.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Sarah Backer at 573-220-9038 or [email protected].