Blavatt Lecture Brings Top Journalist to Campus

By Andrew Arenge

Nine Gettysburg College professors recently received tenure, guaranteeing dramatic job security, a permanent position in their area of expertise, and free will to pursue further research.

The Eisenhower Institute recently announced Howard Fineman, Senior Washington Correspondent and columnist for Newsweek, as the keynote speaker for the 12th Annual Blavatt Lecture at Gettysburg College. The annual lecture series, sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Blavatt of Owings Mills, Maryland, brings together individuals whose professional experiences provide an insightful perspective on the American political system. Fineman’s speech will take place in Mara Auditorium on April 15 at 7:30 and he will be signing copies of his first book, The Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates that Define and Inspire Our Country, after the event.

Previous Blavatt Lecture speakers have included Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek; Tom Daschel, former Senate Majority Leader; Dick Army, former House Majority Leader; Howard Dean, chair emeritus of the Democratic National Committee and former 2004 Democratic Party Presidential Candidate; and Linda Greenhouse, Senior Correspondent for the New York Times.

Howard Fineman is Newsweek’s senior Washington Correspondent and columnist, senior editor and deputy Washington Bureau Chief. He is also the author of “Living Politics,” a column that began and continues on MSNBC.com and Newsweek.com and is now featured in the print magazine. An award-winning writer, Fineman also is an NBC News Analyst, contributing reports to the network and its cable affiliates. The author of scores of Newsweek cover stories, Fineman’s work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Republic.

Fineman has interviewed every major presidential candidate since 1984. A cover story in November 2001 featured the president’s first extensive post-9/11 interview. Another, “Bush and God,” was the top-selling issue of 2003 and was part of a series of Newsweek articles that won the magazine a National Magazine Award for General Excellence that year. His reporting has helped Newsweek win numerous other honors from the Magazine Publishers Association and the American Journalism Review. Fineman’s other awards include a “Page One” from the Headliners Club of New York, a “Silver Gavel” from ABA and a “Deadline Club” from the Society of Professional Journalists.

A native of Pittsburgh, Fineman began his journalism career at The Louisville Courier-Journal, covering the environment, the coal industry and state politics before joining the newspaper’s Washington bureau in 1978. He moved to Newsweek in 1980, was named chief political correspondent in 1984, deputy Washington bureau chief in 1993 and senior editor in 1995.

Fineman holds an A.B., phi beta kappa, from Colgate, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia, and a J.D. from the University of Louisville. His legal education included a year at the Georgetown University Law Center. He received Watson and Pulitzer Traveling Fellowships for study in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. He lives in Washington with his wife and their two children.

The Blavatt Lecture has always stimulated the minds of students and professors alike and offers unique insight into the world of politics, media and the American government.