2008 Meyerhoff Visiting Professor: Thomas L. Friedman

Release date: October 03, 2008 |

Photo by Fred R. Conrad of The New York Times

Thomas L. Friedman — the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, New York Times columnist, and world-renowned author — will talk about his new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution  - And How It Can Renew America, in Goucher College’s Kraushaar Auditorium on Friday, October 3, at 8 p.m.

Due to widespread interest in this event, no more tickets are available.

Friedman is appearing as Goucher’s 2008 Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Visiting Professor. Following the lecture, he will hold a book signing. Books will be available for purchase.

Friedman joined The New York Times in 1981 as a financial reporter specializing in OPEC- and oil-related news. He later reported on international economic news and served as the paper’s chief diplomatic correspondent and its chief White House correspondent. He has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles reporting on the Middle East conflict, the end of the Cold War, domestic and foreign policy, international economics, and the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat.

In January 1995, Friedman became The New York Times’ foreign-affairs columnist. His column, which appears twice a week in the Times, is syndicated to 100 other newspapers worldwide.

He was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Lebanon), the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Israel), and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

Friedman is also the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem, which chronicled his days as a reporter in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war and his journey in 1984 from Beirut to Jerusalem to cover unfolding events. It won both the National Book Award and the Overseas Press Club Award in 1989. He researched and wrote about the impact of globalization on current world affairs in The Lexus and the Olive Tree, which was one of the best-selling business books in 1999 and the winner of the 2000 Overseas Press Club Award for best nonfiction book on foreign policy.

Friedman’s 2005 book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century examined the influences shaping business and competition in a technology-fueled global environment and what governments, businesses, and individuals must do to stay ahead of these trends to remain competitive. The World Is Flat was given the first Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, and Friedman was named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report.

In his latest book — Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - And How It Can Renew America, which was published this year — Friedman addresses the looming effects of climate change, rapid population growth, and globalization. He also proposes that an ambitious national strategy — which he calls “Geo-Greenism” — is needed to save the planet from overheating and to make America more innovative, productive, and secure.

Friedman graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University with a degree in Mediterranean studies and earned a master’s degree in modern Middle East studies from Oxford. He has served as a visiting professor at Harvard University and has been awarded honorary degrees from several U.S. universities.

The Jane and Robert Meyerhoff Visiting Professorship was created to bring distinguished scholars, teachers, and practitioners to Goucher's campus to advance local and national dialogues on pressing issues of our time — such as environmentalism, this year's theme.