Political commentator Cokie Roberts will be the featured speaker at the 23rd R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues this fall. The Convocation is at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13 in the Looney Complex

Cokie Roberts, 2016 speaker at the R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues.

Cokie Roberts, 2016 speaker at the R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues.

Arena, and it is free and open to the public.

In addition to the Convocation, Roberts will be the guest of honor at the annual Convocation luncheon at noon Sept. 13 in the Fulkerson Center. Cost and sponsorship information for the luncheon will be announced at a later date.

 

Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News and NPR. From 1996 to 2002, she and Sam Donaldson (who was the Convocation speaker in 2007) co-anchored the weekly interview program “This Week.” In her more than 40 years of broadcasting, she has won countless awards, including three Emmys. She has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting.

Roberts holds more than 20 honorary degrees, serves on the boards of several nonprofit institutions, and on the President’s Commission on Service and Civic Participation. In 2008, the Library of Congress named her a “Living Legend,” one of the very few Americans to have attained that honor.

In addition to her appearances on the airwaves, Roberts and her husband, Steve Roberts, write a weekly column syndicated in newspapers around the country by United Media. They are also contributing editors to USA Weekend Magazine, and together they wrote “From this Day Forward,” an account of their more than 40-year marriage and other marriages in American history. The book immediately went onto The New York Times Bestseller list, following Cokie Roberts’ number one bestseller, “We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters,” an account of women’s roles and relationships throughout American history. Her earlier books, “Founding Mothers” and “Ladies of Liberty” (published in 2004 and 2008 respectively), also became instant bestsellers.

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