Steve Forbes, founder of Forbes Magazine and former U.S. presidential candidate, will replace James Earl Jones in the Distinguished Speakers Series (DSS) event on April 14.

Jones, who is best known for his role as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, the film and Broadway hit The Great White Hope and as a Verizon phone company spokesman, canceled his appearance at Penn State because of his role in the Broadway play On Golden Pond.

"He canceled about two weeks ago, but we didn't want to announce it until we had a replacement," DSS Committee Chair Matt Midles said.

Midles said Jones was looking forward to speaking at Penn State and will be re-scheduled to appear next year.

Businessman Forbes, a conservative candidate who ran in the 1996 and 2000 presidential elections, became the next choice for the DSS committee after Jones canceled, Midles said.

"Steve Forbes is a name that is mentioned every year -- he is a favorite choice for all sorts of students," he added.

Forbes will speak at 8 p.m. April 14 in Eisenhower Auditorium.

DSS committee member Brian Boyd said he is excited for Forbes' appearance.

"We haven't had any business or economic speakers," Boyd said. "It is a gap we have had to fill for some time."

Boyd said Forbes will add a change to the DSS line-up this year since he combines business, economics and politics.

Boyd added most big-name business speakers, such as Bill Gates, are out of the price range for DSS. Steve Forbes is not only affordable for the committee but has the name to draw in a large crowd, he said.

Midles added the DSS committee had to find a speaker who was able to come on April 14 because Eisenhower Auditorium was already booked for the committee's use.

"We are so lucky that our times matched up," he said.

Midles said Forbes responded to the committee's request within 48 hours.

"He was prompt in his response -- he knew we were in a time-crunch," Midles said.

Committee members said they will be concentrating on publicity for the next few weeks to raise awareness for Forbes' appearance.

Gary Bolton, a business economics professor, said it is worthwhile for students to attend Forbes' lecture.

"He certainly brings a particular point of view," he said.

Boyd said the entire committee is very excited about hosting Forbes because it will "raise the level" of DSS.

"Forbes fits the mold of what a distinguished speaker is," he said.