William Kamkwamba, author and subject of the inspirational story “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” will visit Boise State University on Aug. 26 as part of the Campus Read program. A number of activities are planned, including an evening lecture that is free and open to the public.

In 2001, a famine crippled Kamkwamba’s home country, the Malawi Republic of Africa, taking his family to the brink of starvation and forcing him to drop out of school. Then 14, he turned his attention to building windmills from tree branches and tractor and bicycle parts to bring electricity and irrigation to his village.

The Campus Read program will present an interactive fair from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Aug. 26 on the Quad to help generate awareness about the themes of the book. Engineering faculty and students will help participants build electrical circuits like Kamkwamba did and ride an energy bike to better understand energy generation. The Honors College will run an interactive game on the geography of Africa, and several student organizations, academic departments and campus groups will address everything from nutrition to the book’s literary impact.

Kamkwamba will visit the fair from 10:30-11:30 a.m. He also will share his personal story at 7 p.m. in the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and no tickets are required.

“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” was released in September 2009 and quickly landed on The New York Times Bestseller List, as well as top 10 for 2009 lists from Amazon and Publisher’s Weekly. Kamkwamba has become an inspiration around the world. He has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal and his inventions displayed at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. He’s often invited to tell his story, and in 2008 he delivered an address at the World Economic Forum on Africa.

Incoming first-year students received a copy of “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” during their orientation this summer and it will be discussed in classes and incorporated into student projects this fall. Kamkwamba co-authored his autobiography with Bryan Mealer, a former Associated Press staff correspondent and author. To learn more about the book, visit http://radio.boisestate.edu and listen to an interview with Mealer on New Horizons, a weekly radio show hosted by Boise State President Bob Kustra.

For more information, contact Sharon McGuire at (208) 426-4062 or sharonmcguire@boisestate.edu, or Brian MacDonald at (208) 426-4624 or brianmacdonald@boisestate.edu.