October 27, 2009

by Kelly Beggs

Thomas L. Friedman

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and nationally syndicated columnist Thomas L. Friedman will speak at Davidson College at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Friedman will discuss environmental issues in a lecture titled "Hot, Flat and Crowded-An Update." A book signing will follow the lecture.

The talk will be in the Duke Family Performance Hall, and is free and open to the public. However, tickets are required. They may be picked up in person at the College Union ticket office on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a three-ticket limit per person. Tickets are not available by phone or online, but 75 tickets will be made available on a first come, first serve basis beginning an hour before the talk. For information call 704-894-2135.

Friedman is the author of the recent book Hot, Flat and Crowded, which focuses on the convergence of climate change, globalization and population growth. His other best-selling books include The World Is Flat, From Beirut to Jerusalem, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, and Longitudes and Attitudes. His work has been published in more than 27 languages and has received numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the Overseas Press Club Award, and the inaugural Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

After graduating summa cum laude from Brandeis University in 1975 with a degree in Mediterranean studies, Friedman earned his master's degree in modern Middle East studies from Oxford University in England in 1978. He began reporting for The New York Times in 1981 and has covered the Middle East conflict, the end of the Cold War, U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy, international economics, and the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat. He has won three Pulitzer Prizes-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. In 2004, Friedman was awarded the Overseas Press Club's Lifetime Achievement Award.

He currently writes a weekly foreign affairs column for The New York Times that is syndicated to more than 100 newspapers worldwide. He has served as a visiting professor at Harvard University and has been awarded honorary degrees from several U.S. universities.

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,800 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.
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