United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will receive an honorary doctorate of public service from the University May 5 in Lisner Auditorium.

The event, which is open to the public, will honor the two-term secretary general for his work in the U.N. and inaugurate an annual lecture series in the Elliott School of International Affairs. The series is titled “The U.S. and the United Nations: Working Together in the 21st Century,” said Elliott School professor Karl Inderfurth, who helped organize Annan’s visit.

“One goal of this series is for Washington, D.C., to better understand the benefits this country gets from the U.N.,” said Inderfurth, who worked as the deputy ambassador to the U.N.’s Security Council in the mid-1990s while Annan was undersecretary general.

“There is no one better in the world than the secretary general of the U.N. to discuss the importance and relevance of the U.N. in today’s world,” Inderfurth said.

The University sent an e-mail about the event to ESIA students Tuesday night followed by an e-mail to the entire GW community on Wednesday. More than 200 free tickets were distributed through the Lisner Auditorium box office Wednesday afternoon, a Lisner box office representative said.

Along with GW community members, representatives from the U.S. government, Capitol Hill, the diplomatic community, nongovernmental organizations and international organizations have been invited to the secretary general’s speech.