NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof to deliver KSG address

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has been named this year’s graduation speaker at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (KSG). Kristof will deliver his remarks June 6 in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

“Nicholas Kristof exemplifies public service through his compelling and moving reports on human rights violations across the globe,” said KSG Dean David T. Ellwood. “He has quickly become one of the nation’s most respected and influential columnists, and we look forward to hearing his perspectives on some of the most critical public policy challenges facing our country and our world.”

Kristof grew up in Oregon, attended Harvard College, and won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he studied law. He joined the Times in 1984, and served as bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo before being named a columnist in November 2001. Kristof has won two Pulitzer Prizes during his career — in 1990 for news coverage of the Chinese democracy movement in Tiananmen Square and in 2006 for commentary. This event will be Web-streamed live at http://www.iop.harvard.edu/events_forum.html.