U-M honors Raoul Wallenberg with a special centennial exhibit

Updates were made to the times of the lecture and the exhibit hours.

The University of Michigan celebrates the life of alumnus and humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg with the annual Wallenberg lecture and medal. This year, a special exhibit on Wallenberg's exceptional life honors the 100th anniversary of his birth. A reception will open the exhibit on Wednesday.

Wallenberg's story is an incredible one. A 1935 U-M architecture graduate, Wallenberg went on to save tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. In 1945, Soviet authorities detained Wallenberg in Budapest. To this day, his fate remains unknown.

Swedish journalist Ingrid Carlberg, author of the award-winning book "There is a Room Waiting for You Here: The Story of Raoul Wallenberg," will give a lecture on Wednesday at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library. Her biography of Wallenberg won the 2012 August Prize for the best Swedish nonfiction book.

The reception for the exhibit will be held in the Michigan Union Ballroom. U-M President Mary Sue Coleman; Jonas Hafström, Swedish ambassador to the United States; Monica Ponce de Leon, dean of U-M's A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and Holocaust survivor Irene Butter, cofounder of the U-M Wallenberg Executive Committee will all give remarks at the event.

The lecture is Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. 2:30 p.m. Free. In room 100 at 913 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor. 734-764-0400. The reception is on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. 4-6 p.m. Free. The Michigan Union is located at 530 S. State St., Ann Arbor. 734-763-5786. The exhibit will run through Feb. 28 at the Union. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Noon-4 p.m. Sat. & Sun. For more information or to arrange visits to the exhibit by school groups and other organizations, call 734-764-5536.