University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Announces Washington Post Op-Ed Columnist to Give Graduation Ceremony Speech

PITTSBURGH-"Washington Post" op-ed columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. will deliver the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) graduation ceremony address, at 12:30 p.m. April 26 in the 20th Century Club auditorium, 4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland. Members of the media are welcome to attend.

From the mid-1970s until the early 1990s, Dionne was a reporter for the "New York Times," serving in Paris, Rome, Albany, and Washington, D.C.; he was bureau chief in both Albany and Rome. In 1993, he left the "Times" to become an op-ed columnist for the "Washington Post;" his syndicated columns now appear in several hundred papers around the country, including the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette." Dionne also has been a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution since the early 1990s. He also holds an appointment as University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. Dionne is also a regular political analyst on National Public Radio.

Dionne is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford University; he received his PhD degree from Oxford in 1982.

Dionne's books include L.A. Times Book Prize-winner "Why Americans Hate Politics: The Death of the Democratic Process" (Simon and Schuster, 1992), "Stand Up, Fight Back: Republican Toughs, Democratic Wimps, and Politics of Revenge" (Simon and Schuster, 2004), and "Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right" (Princeton University Press, 2007). In her review of his latest book, renowned political analyst Cokie Roberts calls Dionne "this country's single most knowledgeable writer on religion and politics."

In 1996, in selecting Dionne as recipient of its annual Carey McWilliams Award to honor a major journalistic contribution to the understanding of politics, the American Political Science Association said: "We honor Mr. Dionne as one of Washington's finest journalistic thinkers and for his insightful daily contributions to the political discourse of our nation. ... His tireless efforts uplift the public ... in a time that cries for reasoned debate, not more negative ads, rumor or simplistic sound bites."

In 1997, he was named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal and among the capital city's top 50 journalists by the Washingtonian magazine.

###

4/14/08/tmw