If you are in Columbus, next week, we are hosting a terrific speaker at 4 p.m. in the Moritz College of Law, Saxbe Auditorium at the Ohio State University (he will actually visit Harvard Law School first, on the 6th, if you happen to be in Boston).

The annual Lawrence Negotiation Lecture this year will feature Michael Young, who will be speaking on “The Secret Talks that Led to the Fall of Apartheid.” Mr. Young was a key player in the fall of apartheid in South Africa.

In 1986, Young set up secret meetings in Mells Park House, a private mansion in Somerset, U.K., between individuals who understood the positions of the South African government and the leadership of the African National Congress. There were more than a dozen covert meetings over a five-year period, all of which were purposefully kept out of the media spotlight. These secret talks eventually led to public negotiations on the end of the apartheid system and the release of Nelson Mandela.

The negotiations and Young’s role were the subject of the movie Endgame. Today, Young runs his own company advising businesses and governmental organizations around the world on strategic change management.

This will be only the second time Young has spoken in the United States on the secret talks.