Indiana University School of Journalism

Home » Alumni-feed » Speaker Series kicks off Sept. 8

The School of Journalism will host a radio journalist, a book author and a longtime newspaper editor this fall as part of its Speaker Series program that brings nationally-known media professionals to the area.

National Public Radio’s Nina Totenberg, who covers the Supreme Court and legal affairs; book and magazine author Elizabeth Gilbert; and Leonard Downie, formerly executive editor at The Washington Post, are featured speakers this semester.

All lectures, at various locations, are free and open to the public. Below is the schedule:

Elizabeth Gilbert, Sept. 8

7 p.m., Indiana University Auditorium

Courtesy photo, Deborah Lopez

Author Elizabeth Gilbert

Time magazine called journalist and book author Elizabeth Gilbert one of the "100 most influential people in the world."

She’s the author of Eat, Pray, Love, the story of the year she spent traveling around the world in search of personal restoration after a difficult divorce. She also wrote The Last American Man, which explores America’s long-standing intrigue with a luxury-free, pioneer lifestyle and was nominated for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Gilbert has written for GQ, Spin, Harpers Bazaar and The New York Times Magazine.

• Read more about Gilbert at her Web site.

Nina Totenberg, Sept. 16

7:30 p.m., Indiana University Auditorium

Courtesy photo

Nina Totenberg

Broadcaster Nina Totenberg has been with National Public Radio since 1975 and appears regularly on its three newsmagazines, "All Things Considered," "Morning Edition" and "Weekend Edition." Her NPR coverage of the Supreme Court has brought her widespread recognition, and she also appears on Inside Washington, a syndicated public affairs program produced in the nation’s capitol.

She has been Broadcaster of the Year and in 1998 became the first radio journalist to receive the Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcasting from the National Press Foundation. She is the recipient of the American Judicature Society’s first-ever award honoring a career body of work in the field of journalism and the law.

• Read more about Totenberg at NPR.org.

Leonard Downie, Oct. 28

7 p.m., Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.

Courtesy photo

Leonard Downie

Most recently executive editor of The Washington Post, Leonard Downie spent nearly his entire journalism career at newspaper, which he joined as a summer intern in 1964. Early in his career, Downie became a well-known local investigative reporter, specializing in crime, courts, housing and urban affairs.

He worked on the paper’s metropolitan staff as a reporter and editor for 15 years and ran the staff as assistant managing editor for metropolitan news from 1974 until 1979, supervising the Post’s Watergate coverage. He moved up to managing editor, then executive editor in 1991.

As of Sept. 8, he is stepping down as executive editor but will remain a vice president at large for The Washington Post Co. He is the author of four books.

• Read more about Downie at The Washington Post.