Three-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner and New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman To Speak At OU

Thomas L. Friedman, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, bestselling author and renowned New York Times foreign affairs columnist, will speak at a University of Oklahoma Presidential Speakers Series dinner, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in the Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave., on the OU Norman campus.

Friedman, one of the most influential business thinkers in America known for his direct reporting and accessible analysis of complex issues shaping the world, is also the author of seven New York Times bestsellers, including The World is Flat, which has sold 4.5 million copies and won the inaugural Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

At his upcoming talk at OU, Friedman will discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by global trends in economics, technology and geopolitics.

“Drawing from his more than four decades as a journalist, Thomas Friedman possesses a unique ability to observe and articulate some of the most complex issues that are rapidly transforming the world around us,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “His outlook on society and our future are incredibly timely for our country as well as our university, and we look forward to an engaging evening of discussion and learning.”

Friedman joined The New York Times in 1981 and has served as the Beirut bureau chief, Jerusalem bureau chief, diplomatic correspondent, White House correspondent, economic correspondent and foreign affairs op-ed columnist. Covering numerous monumental stories from around the world, he has received three Pulitzer Prizes – one in 1983 for international reporting from Lebanon, one in 1988 for international reporting from Israel and one in 2002 for his columns written about 9/11. In awarding Friedman his third Pulitzer Prize, the board cited his “clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat.”

In addition to The World is Flat, Friedman’s bestsellers similarly focus on globalization, foreign affairs and environmental issues. His other books are  From Beirut to Jerusalem, which won the National Book Award in 1989; That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back; Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations; Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America; Longitudes and Attitudes: The World in the Age of Terrorism; and The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization.

Named to the 2011 Thinkers50 and the 2013 list of Foreign Policy’s Top Global Thinkers, Friedman is a frequent guest on America’s major news programs, including Meet the Press and Morning Joe. He has hosted three TV documentaries on the Discovery Channel – Roots of 9/11, The Other Side of Outsourcing and Addicted to Oil – and was featured in Years of Living, a Showtime documentary series about climate change.

Limited seating is available by reservation for OU students, faculty, staff and alumni with overflow seating available to the public. For reservations, more information and accommodations, email specialevents@ou.edu or call (405) 325-1701.