Ben Stein, the economist and author known to many for his memorable bit part in a 1980s movie, will be the first speaker in a new series that begins this week in Texarkana.
Farmers Bank and Trust is hosting Stein's appearances as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. The series' purpose is to raise scholarship funds for Texarkana College graduates who want to continue their educations at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, officials said during a news conference last week at the bank's local office building.
Farmers Bank and Trust will pay all related expenses so that 100 percent of the money raised will go toward scholarships, said James Bramlett, a senior vice president with the bank and former mayor of Texarkana, Texas.
A similar program that the bank has sponsored in partnership with Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia has raised more than $250,000 for scholarships over the past 13 years, Bramlett said.
Stein was co-host, along with Jimmy Kimmel, of the Comedy Central game show Win Ben Stein's Money, which won seven Emmys.
But it was Stein's brief screen time as a teacher taking attendance in a hit 1986 movie that cemented his place in popular culture as the droning economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
The dinner and lecture portion of Stein's appearance will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Texarkana Arkansas Convention Center at 5200 Convention Plaza Drive, which is on the Arkansas side of Texarkana.
There will also be a private reception with Stein at 6 p.m. in the Farmers Bank and Trust Main Branch at 2900 St. Michael Drive in Texarkana, Texas.
Ticket information for the Stein events is available at www.TAMUT.edu/Farmers or in the business office on the Texas A&M University-Texarkana campus, located in the Building for Academic and Student Services at 7101 University Drive, Texarkana, Texas.
Metro on 03/31/2019