KINGSTON, R.I. – January 29, 2010 – The Rev. Lynn Baker-Dooley will deliver the keynote address at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Luncheon at the University of Rhode Island’s Multicultural Center on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at noon. The event will be livecast on URI Live! and on the Multicultural Center’s Web site www.uri.edu/mcc, with the live stream starting one half-hour before the event begins.

Baker-Dooley, wife of URI President David M. Dooley, is a Baptist minister who graduated from Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Mass. Because of limited space, attendance at the event will be limited. However, community members are encouraged to visit www.uri.edu/news/urilive to view Baker-Dooley’s first major public comments since she and her husband came to the University in July.

URI Provost Donald DeHayes will serve as master of ceremonies for the program, which will include welcoming comments from Melvin Wade, director of the Multicultural Center, and Paul Bueno de Mesquita, interim director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies. The 2009-10 Martin Luther King, Jr. Peacemaker Award also will be presented before Baker-Dooley’s speech.

Baker-Dooley earned her bachelor’s degree from Bethel College in Minnesota, where she majored in English and political science with a minor in music. Before coming to Rhode Island, she served for two years as chaplain for Bozeman Deaconess Hospital in Montana, as well as 10 years as pastor at First Baptist in Bozeman, Mont. She was active in the Montana State University community, addressing homeless issues through work with Habitat for Humanity and Family Promise, a program for parents with children who are homeless. She also worked with battered women’s networks.