The Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University presents “Scholars Rescue,” with Ethiopian scholar of law and politics Alemayehu Weldemariam and Iranian women’s rights scholar Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, both of whom are pursuing academic endeavors while facing persecution in their home countries.

Both are visiting scholars at American universities this fall – Weldemariam at Suffolk University -- and both are fellows of the Scholar Rescue Fund, a program of the Institute of International Education, which recognizes freedom of scholarship as a fundamental right.

The program moderator is Nir Eisikovits, who directs Suffolk University’s graduate program in ethics and public policy. He will describe how the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund has brought these two and many others to safe locations around the world so that they may continue their work unharmed and provide hope to all academics.

The forum will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at the C. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University, 55 Temple St., Boston. Admission is free and open to all.

The Ford Hall Forum is the nation’s oldest free public lecture series. It promotes freedom of speech and fosters an informed and effective citizenry through events that illuminate the key issues facing our society.

The forum presents knowledgeable and thought-provoking speakers, including some of the most controversial opinion leaders of our times, in settings that facilitate frank and open debate.