The Women's Board of Wolfson Children's Hospital announced that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be the third speaker in the 2012-13 Florida Forum speaker series, replacing Lance Armstrong, who was dropped after doping allegations surfaced against the cycling champion.
He has since admitted using the substances. The board said in November that Armstrong was dropped.
Jackie Bargas, president of The Women's Board, along with Florida Forum chairs Martha Baker and Sharon Lucie, announced Abdul-Jabbar will speak at 7 p.m. March 4 at the Times-Union Center. It is the third and final presentation in the current series.
The 2012-13 Florida Forum speaker series benefits the Larry J. Freeman Behavioral Health Center and additional needs at Wolfson.
The series opened in October with Walter Isaacson, whose best-selling biography of Steve Jobs was released in October 2011.
Former Secretary of Defense and former CIA director Robert Gates is scheduled to speak Feb. 2.
The season concludes with Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points. The board said Abdul-Jabbar has spent his post-basketball years as a coach, consultant, actor, documentarian, author, sports columnist, public speaker and cultural ambassador.
"Diagnosed in 2009 with chronic myeloid leukemia, Abdul-Jabbar stated he would not allow cancer to alter his day-to-day life — he is currently battling the disease with much success," said the board in a news release.
It said he established The Skyhook Foundation to raise the academic aspirations of students by connecting them with mentors and developing a deep understanding of careers in STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
He has won national awards for his achievements.
The series is one of two major benefits produced annually by the all-volunteer Women's Board. The forum raises money for program and clinical equipment needs in addition to a five-year, $4 million pledge toward the Freeman Behavioral Health Center, which provides counseling and support for children facing surgery and illness, in some cases terminal.
The center also treats psychiatric illness, as well as childhood obesity, eating disorders and depression, among others.
For information about the forum, visit thefloridaforum.com or call (904) 202-2886.
CNN.com reported last week that Armstrong says he used an array of performance enhancing drugs to win seven Tour de France titles then followed that by years of denials.
"This is too late, it's too late for probably most people. And that's my fault," he said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired last week.
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