WAFC Speakers Set

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

LAKEWOOD, Calif. — Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state, is scheduled to be the closing speaker at the annual convention of the Western Association of Food Chains here.

The 89th WAFC convention is scheduled for April 17-21 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Hotel in Palm Desert, Calif. The theme of the convention will be “Educating Tomorrow's Leaders Today.”

Rice served four years as secretary of state for President George W. Bush following four years as his national security advisor. Her talk — and a subsequent on-stage interview with Pete Van Helden, WAFC president and executive vice president, retail operations, Supervalu, Minneapolis — will close a two-day business session.

The retail keynote speech will be delivered by Dan Sanders, chief executive officer of United Supermarkets, Lubbock, Texas, while the supplier keynoter will be Gary Rodkin, CEO of ConAgra Foods, Omaha, Neb. Non-industry speakers will include Jim Abbott, a former Olympic baseball player who was born with only one hand, and Jonah Lehrer, author of “How We Decide,” on the rational and emotional parts of the brain involved in decision-making.

Nestlé will be recognized as the first company to donate scholarships for 50 consecutive years to the Food Industry Management program at the University of Southern California — a program WAFC has sponsored for the 51 years of its existence.