Investigative Journalist Hersh Delivers Leopold Lecture

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Seymour Hersh, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who uncovered some of the most important news stories of our times, will discuss U.S. foreign policy Thursday, Oct. 23, when he delivers the 19th annual Richard W. Leopold Lecture at Northwestern University.

The lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, in Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson Street. Free and open to the public, the lecture will be followed by a reception.

A regular contributor to The New Yorker since 1971, Hersh is the author of eight books, including his most recent, "Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib." The book explores changes in U.S. foreign policy following 9/11, the road to the war in Iraq and the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Hersh's reports on the mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib caused a worldwide stir, and he won the 2004 George Polk Award for magazine reporting on the infamous Iraq prison. With five Polk awards, Hersh is the most decorated Polk laureate to date.

Hersh earned his Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his investigative work exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War. His investigation led him to Lt. William Calley and his chilling account of the massacre of more than 500 civilians in a small Vietnamese village called My Lai.

In 1990, former students of Richard W. Leopold, an eminent diplomatic historian, established the Leopold Lectureship in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. The lectureship honors Leopold's enduring influence on his students and on the University. Leopold, a dedicated educator for more than 40 years, nurtured generations of Northwestern undergraduates.

For more information about the Leopold Lecture, call (847) 467-3005 or e-mail events@wcas.northwestern.edu.

(Josh Calixto, a sophomore at the Medill School, contributed to this story)