Washington and Jefferson College Students and business leaders in Washington County were treated to a rare program. Jose Miguel Aleman Healy, Panama’s Ambassador to the United States shared his views on the history and current relationship between Panama and the United States. He stepped back in history to when business titans in the U-S negotiated with Panama in the 1850’s to build the Panama Railroad that preceded the Panama Canal by nearly fifty years. He detailed the business relationship with the U-S describing Panama’s trade deficit with the U-S as a 10:1 ratio in favor of the U-S. His description of Panama’s economy is one based in logistics. He detailed diverse business opportunities available in his county. He was particularly adamant about the United States maintaining its lead in creativity in innovations both in business and technology. He admires the United States Education system for that creativity and says the creativity is what keeps the United States as a world leader over other countries such as China that copy other country’s innovations. He says that Panama is looking to tap into that innovation by having American universities expand into their country. Panama has recently met with Carnegie Mellon University for that reason. Attorney Frank Botta is a graduate of W&J and invited Ambassador Aleman Healy to speak. He hopes that the visit will open an opportunity for W&J to take advantage of the expansion plan.