Pulitzer Prize winning essayist William Safire to launch Fall 2002 University Lectures at Syracuse University

Pulitzer Prize winning essayist William Safire to launch Fall 2002 University Lectures at Syracuse UniversitySeptember 23, 2002Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

Syracuse University alumnus William Safire ’51, syndicated columnist and recipient of a 1978 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, will give his take on “What’s Going to Happen in Washington?” at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 in Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel. Safire’s presentation is the first installment of the Fall 2002 University Lectures, a lineup that includes Nobel Laureates, distinguished writers, designers, scientists and intellectuals. All of the lectures are free and open to the public.

Safire’s extraordinary career has taken him through two Presidential campaigns (Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon), to the White House, where he served as Nixon’s speechwriter, and to the pages of the New York Times, where he has been writing twice-weekly columns for some 30 years. Safire’s political commentary is written from the point of view of a libertarian conservative who spares no one and who thrives on the controversy spawned by his writings. He refers to himself as a “repundit,” which he describes as half reporter and half pundit.

Safire is the author of some 23 books, including “Before the Fall” (1975), a history of the pre-Watergate White House; “Full Disclosure” (1977); “Freedom” (1987), a novel about the Civil War; and his latest novel “Scandalmonger” (2000), a novel about the origins of a free press in the United States.

Safire is also known for his study of language; his “On Language” column runs in newspapers across the country. He is the author of “Safire’s New Political Dictionary” (1993), a half-million-word study of the words that have inspired and inflamed the electorate.

Safire is a member of the University’s Board of Trustees and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University in 1978. He has presented the University’s Commencement address in 1978 and 1990 and served as the keynote speaker for the 1988 Campaign for Syracuse kickoff dinner in New York City and as master of ceremonies for the late Chancellor Melvin Eggers’ 20th anniversary celebration in 1991.

As director of the Charles A. Dana Foundation, Safire is directing foundation gifts to the University that established the William Safire Seminar in the Special Collections section of Bird Library. In addition, Safire has donated some 5,000 of his works to the library.

In addition to Safire, the fall lineup also features:

? Oct. 10: “Working Toward Peace” presented by Nobel Peace Prize winners Jody Williams and Betty Williams” at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Betty Williams is the co-founder of the Community of Peace People in Northern Ireland, and Jody Williams of Putney, Vt., is the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. The Rev. Thomas V. Wolfe, dean of Hendricks Chapel, will moderate the discussion.

? Oct. 30: “Media Design: Less is More” presented by information architect Mario R. Garcia, CEO and president of Garcia Media, at 7: 30 p.m. in Studio A, Newhouse II.

? Nov. 5: “Conflicting Narratives in the Arab-Israeli Conflict” presented by Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland and leading expert on the Middle East conflict. The lecture will be at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Telhami is a frequent op-ed contributor to major newspapers, including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, and has appeared as a guest commentator for the major news networks.

? Nov. 14: “Recent Work” presented by Rem Koolhaas, the world-renowned Dutch architect who was named the 2000 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, at 7:30 p.m. in the Schine Student Center Goldstein Auditorium; and

? Nov. 20: “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: Stress, Disease and Coping” presented by Robert Sapolsky at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Sapolsky is a MacArthur “Genius Fellow,” professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and research associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.

The University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University individuals of exceptional accomplishment in the areas of architecture and design; the humanities and the sciences; and public policy, management and communications. The series is generously supported by the University’s Trustees, alumni and friends.