Christiane Amanpour to Speak at Commencement

CNN chief international correspondent will deliver address at June 18 commencement

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent, will speak at Northwestern University’s 152nd commencement on Friday, June 18 and will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

In her 20 years as an international correspondent, Amanpour has reported on major crises from the world’s many hotspots, including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans and the United States during Hurricane Katrina. She has secured exclusive interviews with leaders around the world.

Amanpour joined CNN in 1983 as an assistant on the network’s international assignment desk in Atlanta. She worked her way up to correspondent in CNN’s New York bureau before becoming an international correspondent in 1990. Her first major assignment was the first Gulf War, and she since has covered wars, famine, genocide and natural disasters around the globe.

Her work has earned an inaugural Television Academy honor, nine Emmys, four Peabody Awards, two Polk Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards, the Courage in Journalism Award, an Edward R. Murrow award and other major journalism awards as well as eight honorary degrees from prestigious universities.

In 2007, Amanpour was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her “highly distinguished, innovative contribution” to the field of journalism. In 1998, the City of Sarajevo named her an honorary citizen for her “personal contribution to spreading the truth” during the Bosnian war from 1992 to 1995.

Amanpour graduated summa cum laude from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Northwestern’s commencement will be held at 6 p.m. June 18 at Ryan Field on Northwestern’s Evanston campus.