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CORVALLIS - Betty Williams, who with Mairead Maguire was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976, will deliver the 19th annual Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Memorial Lecture for World Peace at Oregon State University on May 14.

Williams' talk, "Creating a Safe World for Our Children," will begin at 7 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center. It is free and open to the public.

Maguire and Williams were awarded the Nobel Prize for their efforts to ease the violence in their native Northern Ireland. Together, they founded the Community of Peace People, a still-active organization designed to improve life in Northern Ireland.

Williams moved to the United States in 1981 and for the past 20 years has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and the world. She frequently visits international "trouble spots," working with other Nobel laureates to promote peace, safety and the welfare of children.

Her goal and vision, she says, is to create safe havens for the world's children, "where they will be fed, sheltered, nurtured, and encouraged to grow to their fullest potential." To help reach that goal, she founded in 1997 the World Centers of Compassion for Children, a non-profit organization she hopes will help children have a political voice under the auspices of the United Nations.

The lectureship honors OSU graduates Linus Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize recipient, and his wife Ava Helen Pauling, also a noted peace activist. It is sponsored by the OSU College of Liberal Arts.