University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren announced today that four major guest speakers will visit OU this fall, all of whom will focus on the upcoming Presidential Election:
Candy Crowley, Presidential Debate Moderator and Award-Winning Chief Political Correspondent for CNN, will speak on “The 2012 Presidential Election” – Wednesday, Sept. 26
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, Presidentially Appointed Co-Chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, will speak on “America’s Debt and Deficit Crisis: Issues and Solutions” – Monday, Oct. 8, and
Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent and Co-Anchor for the PBS “NewsHour,” will speak on “The Impact of the Presidential Election on America’s Future” – Monday, Nov. 12.
“This fall lineup of speakers on the campus will give our University family a unique look at the Presidential election,” said OU President David L. Boren. “It will include a discussion of the central budget proposal of the campaign – the Simpson-Bowles proposal in person by its two authors. It will also include a presentation by Candy Crowley, the moderator of one of the Presidential debates. Judy Woodruff will provide her insights into the election after it has taken place.”
Candy Crowley
Crowley will be the first woman in 20 years to moderate a Presidential debate. She is CNN’s chief political correspondent and anchor of “State of the Union with Candy Crowley,” a political hour of newsmaker interviews and analysis of current national issues. Crowley’s assignments have taken her to all 50 states and around the world. Since the nomination of Jimmy Carter, she has covered all but one of the national political conventions. As a member of the Peabody Award-winning “Best Political Team on Television,” she played a pivotal role in CNN’s America Votes 2008 coverage, traveling to both conventions, every debate and additional stops along the campaign trail.
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson
In February 2010, President Obama asked Bowles and Simpson to co-chair the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The bipartisan commission was charged with identifying policies to improve the country’s fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run. At the end of 2010, the bipartisan commission released its final report, which included a plan to reduce the nation’s deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. The plan was supported by a majority of the commission with equal support from both Republican and Democratic members, but it never became law. Simpson was Republican U.S. Senator from Wyoming from 1979 to 1997 and a member of the Republican leadership. Bowles, a Democrat, was chief of staff for President Clinton and also served as President of the University of North Carolina.
Judy Woodruff
Woodruff is a senior correspondent and co-anchor for the PBS “NewsHour.” She has covered politics and other news for more than three decades at CNN, NBC and PBS. During the upcoming presidential election, Woodruff will co-anchor with Gwen Ifill the convention coverage, including daily debriefings live on the “NewsHour” website each morning. This will mark the return of the dual-anchor format established on PBS with Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer, and it will be the first time that a broadcast news channel’s election coverage is anchored by two women. In addition to speaking at OU in November, she will receive the 2012 Gaylord Prize for Excellence in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Invitations and information will be forthcoming for all three events.
