2008-2009 Scheduled Speakers
John Edwards
Former 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidate and US Senator
(Sharing the stage with Karl Rove)
Friday, September 26, 8 pm
Alumni Arena, UB’s North (Amherst) Campus
The son of a North Carolina textile mill worker, John Edwards was the first in his family to attend college. He went on to earn a law degree with high honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
As a nationally recognized attorney, he represented families in cases of malpractice, product liability and insurance claims. His work established the North Carolina precedent of physician and hospital liability for failing to determine if a patient understood the risk of a particular procedure. In regards to another case, he and his law partner earned the Association of Trial Lawyers of America’s national award for public service.
In 1998, Edwards ran for the US Senate and won against the Republican incumbent. As Senator of North Carolina, he co-sponsored approximately 200 bills, served on the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and US Senate Committee on Judiciary, and was a member of the New Democrat Coalition.
Toward the end of his senate term, Edwards became Senator John Kerry’s vice presidential running mate in the 2004 election. Following the Republican win, Edwards accepted the Council on Foreign Relations’ appointment of him as co-chair of the Task Force on US Policy Toward Russia. The task force released a report entitled, Russia’s Wrong Direction: What the United States Can and Should Do, asserting the significance of Russia’s cooperation to achieving American interests.
Most recently, Senator Edwards campaigned for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President. Edwards’ campaign message focused on quality education for all children, enhanced national security and fighting the war on poverty. Edwards often described an unfortunate existence of two America’s: one for the privileged and one for everyone else who struggles to get by. He advocated the College for Everyone program which would pay the tuition of young people during their first year of college, in return for community service work.
Poverty has been a central theme to much of Edwards’ work. Since 2004, he has been the director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of NC at Chapel Hill. In honor of their late son, Edwards and his wife Elizabeth founded the Wade Edwards Foundation which provides scholarships and strives to inspire young people.
Edwards (with John Auchard) has also published a book, Four Trials.
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Karl Rove
Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush
(Sharing the stage with John Edwards)
Friday, September 26, 8 pm
Alumni Arena, UB’s North (Amherst) Campus
As Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, Karl Rove directed the White House’s strategic planning, political affairs, public liaison and governmental affairs initiatives. As Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, Rove also managed policymaking within the White House. Referred to by President Bush as the "boy genius", a US News column stated that no Presidential appointee has ever exerted such an impact on politics and policy, as Karl Rove has.
Rove is regarded as the "architect" of President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns. He came to this role with 18 years of experience as a political strategist. Since founding a public affairs firm in 1981, Karl Rove + Company, Rove worked with approx. 75 Republican campaigns including those of Senators Phil Gramm and John Ashcroft, as well as George W. Bush’s Texan gubernatorial campaigns.
Rove’s interest in politics began at a young age. In high school, he successfully ran for president of the student senate and for a class project, helped out on Senator Wallace Bennett’s re-election campaign. Rove attended the University of Utah, George Mason University and the University of Texas at Austin. During his college years, he was actively involved in the College Republicans, and went on to become Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee.
Since his August 2007 resignation from the White House, Karl Rove shares his political analysis and insights as a contributor for Fox News, Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal.
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Khaled Hosseini
Best-Selling Author of the UB Reads 2008 Book Selection: The Kite Runner
Thursday, October 16, 8 pm
Alumni Arena, UB’s North (Amherst) Campus
Khaled Hosseini is the author of the international best-selling novel and UB Reads 2008 selection, The Kite Runner. Published in 2003 and subsequently translated into 40 languages the book tells the story of Amir, the son of an Afghan diplomat, growing up in 1970’s Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir’s life is shaped by a boyhood friendship and an unspeakable event during which he betrays that friendship. His shame follows him to America after the Soviet invasion of his birth country, and 26 years later, back to a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan where he finds a chance for redemption.
The first novel by an Afghan author to be published in English, The Kite Runner reminds readers in this post 9/11 world that in our humanity, we all share and relate to common emotions and experiences that transcend cultural divides and stereotypes. Consequently, the US Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees named Khaled Hosseini the 2006 Humanitarian of the Year.
Like the character Amir, Hosseini was born in Kabul, the son of a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry. After the communist coup and Soviet invasion, the family was granted political asylum in 1980 and moved to the US where Hosseini completed high school and eventually went on to earn a medical degree from the University of California. He began his writing career while practicing internal medicine.
His first novel, The Kite Runner has been made into a movie. His second and most recent novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns provides an emotional glimpse into the lives of Afghan women.
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Jon Stewart
Host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show
Saturday, November 15, 8 pm
Alumni Arena, UB’s North (Amherst) Campus
Comedian and political satirist, Jon Stewart hosts Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, a combination of news and celebrity interviews, poking fun at political figures, those making the day’s top stories, and the news media itself.
In addition to hosting, Stewart also contributes to the show as a writer and producer. Since Stewart joined The Daily Show in 1999, it has won 10 emmy’s and been nominated a total of 24 times. Stewart himself has been nominated 4 times for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.
Named one of the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, Stewart draws a large audience, especially among young people, many of whom opt for The Daily Show over conventional news shows, to keep informed. The Television Critics Association has recognized the show for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information, and Stewart himself for Individual Achievement in Comedy. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart also received the Peabody Award for excellence in journalism, based on its coverage of the 2000 and 2004 presidential election campaigns.
Jon Stewart’s career began in stand-up comedy. He moved into television with a hosting role on the Comedy Channel’s Short Attention Span Theater, and then began hosting MTV’s first talk show, The Jon Stewart Show. He later attained a recurring role on HBO’s Larry Sanders Show, before joining The Daily Show. Stewart has had roles in numerous films including Death to Smoochy, The Faculty, and Big Daddy starring Adam Sandler, and he has been featured on television shows such as Oprah and 60 Minutes.
Stewart has also had the honor of hosting the 78th and 80th Academy Awards ceremony.
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- www.thedailyshow.com
- www.thedailyshow.com
- www.time.com
- www.imdb.com/name/nm0829537/
- www.jonstewart.net
Donna Brazile
Chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute
33rd Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Event
Thursday, February 12, 8 pm
Center for the Arts, UB’s North (Amherst) Campus
Donna Brazile is a long-time political strategist whose work on democratic campaigns dates back to Carter-Mondale (1976). After advising Bill Clinton’s 1992 and 1996 campaigns, she was appointed as Al Gore’s campaign manager in the 2000 general election, making her the first African-American woman in history to manage a presidential campaign.
After the controversy over votes which followed the 2000 general election, Brazile was selected as Chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute (VRI), an organization dedicated to upholding the right of all Americans to participate in the political process.
Brazile is a weekly contributor and political commentator for CNN, a political consultant for ABC News, and a contributor to NPR’s Political Corner. In 2004, she published her political memoir entitled, Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots of Politics. Brazile is also a columnist for Roll Call newspaper and a contributing writer for Ms. magazine.
Brazile who was born to a family of 9 children in New Orleans has achieved many honors. Washingtonian Magazine named her one of Washington, DC’s 100 most powerful women, and Essence selected her among the top 50 most powerful women in America. She also received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Award for Political Achievement.
Brazile is the founder and managing director of Brazile and Associates, LLC, a political consulting and grassroots advocacy firm. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Georgetown University.
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Anna Quindlen
Newsweek Columnist, Social Critic and Author
Wednesday, March 4, 8 pm
Center for the Arts, UB’s North (Amherst) Campus
Anna Quindlen’s column, The Last Word, is featured in Newsweek and read by millions who value her perspective on events of the day and issues of family, work, education and social justice. A journalist since 1974, Quindlen wrote an op-ed column, Public and Private, for the New York Times in the early 1990’s, during which time she was awarded the pulitzer prize for commentary.
Quindlen is the author of five best-selling novels including Black and Blue which was featured by Oprah’s Book Club and made into a TV movie, and One True Thing which was made into a feature film starring Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger and William Hurt. Rise and Shine, debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list at #1.
She has also enjoyed great success as a non-fiction and self-help author. A Short Guide to a Happy Life sold over a million copies followed by the national best-seller, Being Perfect. Additionally, Quindlen has published three collections of her columns, including Living Out Loud.
Quindlen is a graduate of Barnard College and has honorary degrees from several universities. In addition to receiving many journalism awards, Quindlen was a Poynter Fellow in Journalism at Yale, a Victoria Fellow in Contemporary Issues at Rutgers, and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Arts & Sciences.
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Bill Nye (the Science Guy)
Scientist, Comedian and Author
Wednesday, April 22, 8 pm
Alumni Arena, UB’s North (Amherst) Campus
Scientist and comedian Bill Nye is dedicated to making science fun and accessible for all but particularly for kids. Nye first rose to fame as the host of Bill Nye the Science Guy, an educational television program which won 28 emmy awards. Additionally, Nye himself received 7 emmy’s.
A life-long interest in how things work and the science behind everything inspired Nye to study mechanical engineering at Cornell University. After graduating, he worked as an engineer for Boeing where he designed a flight system component that continues to be used today, and later provided consulting services for the Department of Justice. While working as a successful engineer by day, Nye began dabbling in stand-up comedy at night. He later pursued a full-time comedy career as a writer and performer with Almost Live – a comedy television show. It was here that the Science Guy character first appeared, and later earned his own television series.
Bill Nye wrote, produced and hosted Bill Nye the Science Guy from 1992 to1995. Nye’s other television ventures have included the Science Channel’s 100 Greatest Discoveries, and The Eyes of Nye. A passionate voice for the environment, Nye currently hosts Stuff Happens – a mix of entertaining demonstrations, humor, story-telling and expert interviews that can be seen on Discovery’s Planet Green Channel.
Nye is also the author of several books including Bill Nye the Science Guy's Big Blast of Science and Bill Nye’s Great Big Book of Tiny Germs, to name just a couple.
Nye is vice president of the Planetary Society which was founded by his former professor, Carl Sagan.
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