This election season, Wellesley invites the public to stay engaged and informed through provocative public lectures with major thought leaders.

In September, Wellesley welcomes Washington Post columnist, E.J. Dionne; Douglas Elmendorf, Head of U.S. Congressional Budget Office; and Sheryl WuDunn the first Asian-American author to win a Pulitzer Prize.

August 28, 2012—Wellesley is launching the new academic year with transformative lectures that are not just for students. The public are invited to campus to hear insights into presidential politics from E.J. Dionne (pictured), a longtime op-ed columnist for the Washington Post; to become informed of choices for federal spending and taxes with Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office; and to discover why the global struggle for women’s equality has become “the paramount moral challenge of our era,” with Sheryl WuDunn, author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, the public can visit new.wellesley.edu/events or call 781-283-2373.

Members of the media interested in covering the events: please email mediarelations@wellesley.edu.

The Kenner Lecture, Associated with the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global affairs Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Sheryl WuDunn, Author
Tuesday, September 11, 4:15 PM Diana Chapman Walsh alumnae Hall

Sheryl WuDunn, the first Asian American to win a Pulitzer Prize, is a business executive, entrepreneur, and best-selling author. She has special expertise in Asia, entrepreneurship, global women’s issues, and philanthropy. WuDunn is also co-author of three best-selling books, the most recent of which—written with her husband, Nicholas D. Kristof—is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. An ancient Chinese proverb tells us that women hold up half the sky. This book— featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Colbert Report, and other network television shows— asserts that the global struggle for women’s equality has become “the paramount moral challenge of our era.” Sponsored by an endowed fund established by Hyunja Laskin Kenner, Class of 1988, and Jeffrey Kenner.

The Goldman Lecture in Economics
Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office Choices for Federal Spending and Taxes
Thursday, September 13, 8:00 PM Tishman Commons

Douglas Elmendorf is the eighth director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) since its creation in 1974. Before taking the top job at the CBO, Elmendorf was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. As the Edward M. Bernstein Scholar, he served as co-editor of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity and director of the Hamilton Project, an initiative to promote broadly shared economic growth. Elmendorf was previously an assistant professor at Harvard University, a principal analyst at the CBO, a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, a deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and an assistant director of the Division of Research and Statistics at the Federal Reserve Board. Sponsored by an endowed fund established by Marshall Goldman, Kathryn Wasserman Davis Professor of Russian Economics, Emeritus.

The Wilson Lecture
E.J. Dionne, Journalist and Political Commentator
Insights into Presidential Politics
Wednesday, September 19, 8:00 PM Diana Chapman Walsh alumnae Hall

A longtime op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, E.J. Dionne is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and is on the faculty at Georgetown University. He is also a frequent political commentator for National Public Radio, ABC’s This Week, and NBC’s Meet the Press. He is the author of four books, including Why Americans Hate Politics, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award nominee.  Sponsored by an endowed fund established by Carolyn Ann Wilson, Class of 1910.

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 68 countries.

TO COVER, CONTACT:

Sofiya Cabalquinto, Director of Media Relations, Wellesley College 781-283-3321, scabalqu@wellesley.edu