Andre Thornton, one of the Cleveland Indians' most identifiable players during the late 1970s and 1980s, will be the featured speaker at CWRU's 2003 Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation.

The convocation is from noon to 1:15 p.m. January 23 in Strosacker Auditorium.

In addition to the featured speaker, the convocation is expected to include a performance by the Cleveland School of the Arts R. Nathaniel Dett Concert Choir. The student winner of the University's Seventh Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest also will read his or her winning essay.

Thornton played first base and later served as designated hitter during his professional baseball career from 1973 to 1976 with the Chicago Cubs and Montreal Expos and from 1977 to 1987 with the Cleveland Indians. He was an American League All-Star with the Indians in 1982 and 1984 and was first baseman on the Baseball Digest 1974 All-Rookie team as a Cub.

Thornton currently is president and CEO of Global Promotions and Incentives, a company that specializes in offering integrated marketing services to organizations through management consulting, advertising promotional products and event planning. He also was one of the founding members of Apple Partners, a restaurant management group that was sold to Applebee's International.

Among other baseball honors, Thornton received the Silver Bat Award for being the best player at his position in 1984, the Golden Tomahawk Award four times, the Cleveland Indian's Man of the Year Award and the Roberto Clemente Award. He is a member of the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame.

With the Indians, Thornton led the team in homers seven times, including four straight seasons; set a club record for right-handed batters by walking 109 times in 1982; and became only the second Indian with 100 walks and 100 RBIs in the same season.

If not for injuries, Thornton likely would have become Cleveland's all-time home run leader. He hit 214 homers for the Indians despite missing all of the 1980 season, much of 1981 and parts of 1985 and 1986.

A magna cum laude graduate of Capital University, Thornton is a member of the board of directors at Nyack College and serves on the board of trustees for the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, the Cleveland Zoological Society, the Cuyahoga Community College Foundation, the First Tee of Cleveland and the President's Council.

He is a member/graduate of Leadership Cleveland 1997 and co-authored the book Triumph Born of Tragedy.

Thornton, 53, and his family live in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.