Western Carolina University

Western Carolina University political science and public affairs students will hear how a major corporation lobbies state and federal government officials when a graduate of the WCU program returns to his alma mater as keynote speaker at a departmental end-of-year banquet.

Doug Bailey, who earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at WCU in 1993 before embarking on a career than currently finds him serving as regional director of government relations for the Anheuser-Busch Companies in Tallahassee, Fla., will speak at the event at 6 p.m. Friday, April 20.

In his position, Bailey directs the political and legislative operations in the four-state region of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi for Anheuser-Busch, the nation’s largest brewery.

After graduating from WCU, Bailey served as a submarine navigation electronics specialist with the U.S. Navy from 1993 to 1997, and worked as a police officer and housing officer for the city of Asheville from 1999 to 2000. He earned his master’s degree in public administration in 2002 at Florida State University, where he now is working toward his doctoral degree.

Bailey has worked as director of legislative affairs and executive vice president for the Windsor Group, a Tallahassee-based lobbying firm, and as senior political officer for Associated Industries of Florida, the state’s largest business trade association.

For more information, contact the department of political science and public affairs at (828) 227-7475.