Thomas L. Friedman
Photo by Fred R. Conrad of The New York Times

Troy, N.Y. — Thomas L. Friedman, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, will deliver the 2007 Commencement address at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on May 19 at 9:30 a.m. on the Harkness Field. Friedman also will receive an honorary degree at the ceremony, along with pioneering producer Don Hewitt, best known as the creator of the weekly CBS-TV news program 60 Minutes.

“Both Thomas Friedman and Don Hewitt have shaped the journalism profession, and the fruits of their labors have informed millions of people across the country and around the world,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. “We are delighted to have them participate in Rensselaer’s 201st Commencement as they inspire our new graduates to change the world.”

Friedman’s writings touch on the interconnections between globalization, education, and science and technology, making him an especially relevant and compelling Commencement speaker for Rensselaer, Jackson said. She has warned of a “Quiet Crisis” in America — the threat to our nation’s capacity to innovate due to the looming shortage in the nation’s science and technology workforce.

In his best-selling book The World is Flat, Friedman devoted a chapter to the Quiet Crisis, quoting extensively from Jackson’s commentaries on the subject. Both Jackson and Friedman also have highlighted global energy security as the defining issue of our time — the “space race” of the 21st century.

Friedman is author of other best-sellers including The Lexus and the Olive Tree and From Beirut to Jerusalem, for which he received the National Book Award for nonfiction in 1989. He joined The New York Times in 1981 and was appointed Beirut bureau chief in 1982. He served as Israel bureau chief from 1984 to 1988. He was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Lebanon) and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Israel). In 1995 he became the paper’s foreign-affairs columnist.

Previously, Friedman served as chief economic correspondent in the Washington bureau and before that he was the chief White House correspondent. In 2005, Friedman was elected as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board. He received a B.A. degree in Mediterranean studies from Brandeis University and a Master of Philosophy degree in Modern Middle East studies from Oxford University.

Don Hewitt has been a leader at CBS News for more than 50 years. He is best known as the creator of the groundbreaking weekly news program 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968. He served as executive producer of the program for 36 years, and he continues his association with the show in an advisory role. Hewitt is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Emmy, presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Contact: Jason Gorss
Phone: (518) 276-6098
E-mail: gorssj@rpi.edu