The 2009 Aspen Institute McCloskey Speaker Series is proud to announce the addition of award-winning journalist Dan Rather to its speaker list. The event will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 PM on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at the Greenwald Pavilion on the Institute’s Aspen Meadows campus in Aspen, CO. The series is made possible by a gift from the McCloskey Family Charitable Foundation. Tickets for the McCloskey Speaker Series are $15 each and are on sale now through Aspen Show Tickets at the Wheeler. As a full-capacity audience is expected for this program, early ticket purchasing is encouraged. Doors will open 45 minutes prior to the start of the event, and unclaimed tickets will be on sale at the door, if available.
Dan Rather has more than earned his reputation as the “hardest working man in broadcast journalism.” He has interviewed every United States president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush and virtually every major international leader of the past 30 years. He landed two news-breaking interviews with Saddam Hussein, in 1990 and in 2003. In 2004, as a correspondent for 60 Minutes II, Rather also broke what was arguably that year’s biggest story—the abuse of prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison.
Rather is now the anchor and managing editor of Dan Rather Reports, which started broadcasting on HDNet in November, 2006. Rather served as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News from March 9, 1981 to March 9, 2005, the longest such tenure in broadcast journalism history. He was a correspondent for 60 Minutes from October 1975 to September 1981, and again from March 2005 to the summer of 2006.
Rather began his career in journalism in 1950 as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas. Later, he was a reporter for United Press International (1950-52), KSAM Radio in Huntsville (1950-53), KTRH Radio in Houston and the Houston Chronicle (1954-55). He became news director of KTRH in 1956 and a reporter for KTRK-TV Houston in 1959. Prior to joining CBS News, Rather was news director at KHOU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston. He has received virtually every honor in broadcast journalism, including numerous Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award and citations from critical, scholarly, professional and charitable organizations. Rather received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Sam Houston State Teachers College (now Sam Houston State University). He also attended the University of Houston and the South Texas School of Law.
Tickets to this event can be purchased online at www.aspenshowtickets.com or by calling Aspen Show tickets at the Wheeler Opera House at 970-920-5770. For more information on the Aspen Institute McCloskey Speaker Series and other events open to the public, please contact Cristal Logan at 970-544-7929 or cristal.logan@aspeninstitute.org, call the information hotline at 970-544-7970, or visit the Institute’s website at www.aspeninstitute.org/aspenevents.
Upcoming speakers to be featured include:
July 11: US Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA)
3:00 – 4:00 pm; Greenwald Pavilion (location change), Tickets on sale now
July 21: Dan Rather, Journalist, HDNet
6:30 – 7:30 pm; Greenwald Pavilion, Tickets on sale July 7
July 30: Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations, discussing his recent book, “War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars” (copies of this book will be on sale at event)
6:30 – 7:30 pm; Paepcke Auditorium, Tickets on sale July 14
August 1: Ezekiel Emanuel, Senior Counselor, White House Office of Management and Budget, Health Policy
4:00 – 5:00 pm; Paepcke Auditorium, Tickets on sale July 21
August 3: Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi giving a talk entitled “The Truth about America’s Energy Future”
5:00 – 6:00 pm; Paepcke Auditorium, Tickets on sale July 3
Presented by Aspen Institute Community Programs
August 4: Nicholas D. Kristof, Columnist, The New York Times giving a talk entitled “Saving the World in Your Spare Time: Foreign Policy Challenges and What We Can Do About Them”
6:30 – 7:30 pm; Paepcke Auditorium, Tickets on sale July 21
August 7: Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO, Acumen Fund; Trustee, the Aspen Institute giving a talk entitled “The Education of a Patient Capitalist”
4:30 – 5:30 pm; Paepcke Auditorium, Tickets on sale July 28
Cancelled: Dambisa Moyo, Economist, Author
Event details subject to change. Please visit www.aspeninstitute.org/aspenevents for updates or call our events hotline at 970/544-7970.
The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC, Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners.