Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs has attracted some top newsmakers for its new election-year lecture series: "Leadership, Public Service and the American Agenda."

Rep. Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and TIME magazine's Man of the Year, will kick off the series on Feb. 19. Retired Army Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the top U.S. military commander during the Gulf War, confirmed that he will come to campus in the fall. President Bill Clinton has also been invited to participate.

"We see the series contributing to a serious discussion of the fundamental issues of governance and public service that all of us must carefully contemplate during this critical election year," said John L. Palmer, dean of the Maxwell School.

"Our intention is for the Maxwell School to provide a sober and elevated platform for the ideas of key public figures -- from all across the political spectrum -- who stand at the center of current national debate," he said.

Gingrich will speak on the afternoon of the 19th to a group of Maxwell public administration students assembled in the 55-seat classroom of the International Exploratorium, in Egger's Hall. Through use of the Exploratorium's production and telecommunications capabilities, an audio-visual feed of the event will be sent across campus.

The integrated technology of the Exploratorium also will be used to bring into the discussion, via satellite, students from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the university of Texas at Austin. Last March, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Maxwell School first and the LBJ School fourth among the nation's top graduate schools for public administration.

"The International Exploratorium is designed for this kind of interactive discussion between distant sites," said Stuart Thorson, professor of political science and international relations and director of the Exploratorium.

"Even more precisely, it is designed to bring advanced technology to matters pertaining to democratic governance," Thorson said. "Since Speaker Gingrich shares this interest so avidly, it seems particularly fortunate for him to begin the Maxwell election-year series from our facility."

Gingrich, a main architect of the GOP's Contract with America, is currently at the center of federal budgetr negotiations with President Clinton and fellow Republican, Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas.

Powell, in 1993, concluded a stellar military career during which he was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal, a Bronze Star and countless other honors. This November, the man who once held the nation's top military office ended months of speculation by declining to run for the nation's top civilian office.

Like Gingrich, Powell is a best-selling author. Over the past several months he has appeared and spoken across the country to promote his autobiography, "My American Journey" (Random House, 1995).