Drew Forum Lineup Announced

Tom Brokaw, Andy Borowitz, Arianna Huffington and Condoleezza Rice are scheduled to speak at Drew University as part of the 2012-13 Drew Forum lecture series, the university announced in a news release

The lectures "will feature leading public figures whose celebrity and influence span our nation and world," the announcement says. "The slate includes veteran broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw; blogger and screenwriter Andy Borowitz; new media trendsetter Arianna Huffington; and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice."

Series subscriptions are $107 plus handling and include admission to all four lectures. Single-event tickets are available for the Brokaw and Rice lectures.

“Members of the Drew community—along with neighbors from Madison and the surrounding region—can look forward to an exciting series that offers a balanced blend of globally recognized figures,” Drew University President Vivian A. Bull said. “This is a continuation of the long-standing spirit of the Drew Forum, which has offered our students, faculty, staff and neighbors unmatched access to some of the most highly regarded leaders of our time.”

The lineup from the news release:

Tom Brokaw, who will lead off the Forum series on Oct. 25, (location: Simon Forum and Athletic Center) is past anchor of NBC’s three major news programs, Nightly News, The Today Show and Meet the Press. He is also the author of the The Greatest Generation, an award-winning book on the Americans who struggled through the Great Depression and went on to win World War II. Brokaw, who retired from anchoring Nightly News in 2002, currently serves as a special correspondent for NBC.

Andy Borowitz, the creator of the The New Yorker’s popular satirical column The Borowitz Report, will appear on Nov. 14, (location: Dorothy Young Center for the Arts Concert Hall). Prior to beginning his career in political satire, Borowitz was a celebrated Hollywood screenwriter. His credits include All in the Family and The Facts of Life, which preceded his creating the hit sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which earned him an Image Award from the NAACP.

Arianna Huffington, who will speak on March 6, (location: Dorothy Young Center for the Arts Concert Hall) is the founder of The Huffington Post, a leading internet-only news outlet. In 2009, Forbes ranked her number 12 on its list of the Most Influential Women in Media. Two years later, she made headlines herself when AOL purchased The Huffington Post for $315 million, making her head of the company’s entire media portfolio. In 2003, she was a candidate in the gubernatorial recall election in California, earning her a reputation for being an independent-minded politician.

Condoleezza Rice, who will close out the Forum series on April 18, (location: Simon Forum and Athletic Center) will serve as Drew’s 2013 Thomas H. Kean Visiting Lecturer. Rice served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States, the second woman and first African American woman to hold the post. Rice was Stanford University’s Provost from 1993-1999 and is currently the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Graduate School of Business; the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution; and a professor of Political Science at Stanford University. She is also a founding partner of RiceHadleyGates LLC.

Since its establishment more than a decade ago, the Drew Forum has featured American presidents and vice presidents, foreign heads of state, nationally recognized journalists, noted historians and White House cabinet secretaries. The series is presented with support from Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and from Thomas H. Kean, the former two-term New Jersey governor who served as president of Drew University from 1990 to 2005.

Lectures begin at 8 p.m. on the school’s Madison campus. Parking for the Brokaw and Rice events will be at Giralda Farms, with charter bus service running in a continuous loop between the lot and the event venue.

Series subscriptions are $107 plus handling and include admission to all four events, including reserved seating in the Concert Hall and preferred seating at in the Simon Forum. Single-event tickets, which are available for the Brokaw and Rice lectures only, are $32 plus handling. Subscription and ticket purchases can be made through the Drew University Box Office, which can be reached at 973-408-3917. For more information about the Drew Forum visit www.drew.edu/forum.

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