U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic candidate for president in 2004, will speak today at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The free public talk will be at 2:30 p.m. in Hill Hall, on campus roughly across East Franklin Street from the post office.

Kerry will deliver this year’s Weil Lecture on American Citizenship at UNC, presented by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, a part of the College of Arts and Sciences.

In the 2004 election, the Massachusetts senator won more than 59 million votes, or 48.3 of the ballots cast, to then-President George W. Bush’s total of more than 62 million votes, or 50.8 percent.

Since then, Kerry has continued in the Senate, where he advocates for health insurance for low-income children, improvements to public education and protecting the environment.

Kerry chairs the Senate foreign relations committee, on which he has served for 19 years. He also chairs subcommittees of the finance committee and the commerce, science and transportation committee.

After graduating from Yale University, Kerry volunteered for the U.S. Navy and served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He won a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V and three Purple Hearts.

Kerry became convinced that the war was a mistake and spoke out against it upon returning to the United States, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the age of 27. He helped found Vietnam Veterans of America to fight for veterans’ benefits and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kerry graduated from Boston College Law School in 1976 and became a prosecutor in Middlesex County, Mass. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1982 and to the U.S. Senate in 1984. Since then he has won re-election three times. He is now serving his fourth term.

UNC’s biennial Weil Lecture seeks to widen discussion of issues and concerns in the United States. Founded in 1915 by brothers Henry and Solomon Weil of Goldsboro, the lecture has been given by speakers including presidents Taft and Carter, U.S. Senators J. William Fulbright and Nancy Kassebaum, Eleanor Roosevelt and CBS and NPR correspondent Daniel Schorr.

Each succeeding Weil generation has continued a tradition of philanthropy and community involvement, leading in causes including women’s suffrage and civil rights and serving as UNC trustees. The Weil lecture is one of many contributions to the University by the Weil family.