Lecture Programs

Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers

Logo for Foster-Foreman ConferenceThe annual Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers regularly attracts some of the best writers in the country to campus for free public lectures and to work in hands-on and small-group sessions with students in the College of Communications.

Since its inception in 1999, the conference has attracted 51 Pulitzer Prize winners. Thirteen Penn State graduates have been speakers in the series.

The conference is named in honor of Penn State alumni Larry and Ellen Foster, who created the endowment for the professorship and program, and Gene Foreman, the retired Foster Professor of Communications who continues to coordinate the series that was started under his direction.

Upcoming

No Upcoming Lectures

Previous Lectures

Kaufman

October 09, 2024

Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers

Sarah Kaufman

Time: 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm

Location: Kern Auditorium (112 Kern Building)

Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post will conclude the two-day Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers. Her session is free and open to the public.

Biesacker2

October 08, 2024

Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers

Michael Biesecker

Time: 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm

Location: Kern Auditorium (112 Kern Building)

Michael Biesacker of The Associated Press will kick off the two-day Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers. His session is free and open to the public.

October 27, 2021

Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers

Jim Schaefer, Detroit Free Press

Time: 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm

Location: Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center

Opening session of the annual Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers featuring Jim Schaefer, senior news director for business, autos, education and investigations at the Detroit Free Press. He was the lead reporter/investigator of the team at the Free Press that won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

October 28, 2021

Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers

Stephanie Saul, The New York Times

Time: 10:35 am – 11:50 am

Location: Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center

Closing session of the annual Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers, featuring Stephanie Saul, a national reporter at The New York Times, who is now covering education. She was a member of the paper’s politics team during the 2020 general election and the 2018 mid-term elections. She also has served on the Times’ investigations team.

October 24, 2023

Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers

Lyndsay Green

Time: 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Location: Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center

Lyndsay Green, a Penn State alumna and Pulitzer Prize finalist from the Detroit Free Press, will participate in a free public session highlighting the second day of the Foster-Foreman Conference.

October 23, 2023

Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers

Time: 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Location: Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center

Anna Wolfe, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Mississippi Today, will participate in a free public session highlighting the first day of the Foster-Foreman Conference.

* Winners of the Pulitzer Prize
# Penn State graduates

Spring 2014

  • *Dan Gilbert
  • #Samanth Subramanian

Fall 2013

  • *Dean Baquet
  • Beth Macy

Spring 2013

  • *David Finkel
  • Inga Saffron

Fall 2012

  • *#Sara Ganim
  • David Greene

Spring 2012

  • *George Dohrmann
  • *Joby Warrick

Fall 2011

  • *Isabel Wilkerson
  • *Paige St. John

Spring 2011

  • #Ben Feller
  • *Barbara Laker
  • *Wendy Ruderman

Fall 2010

  • *Ken Armstrong
  • *Diana K. Sugg

Spring 2010

  • John Grogan
  • Jayson Stark

Fall 2009

  • *Sonia Nazario
  • *Mark Feeney

Spring 2009

  • *Connie Schultz
  • Michael Bamberger

Fall 2008

  • *Amy Goldstein
  • *Bill Raspberry

Spring 2008

  • *Dana Priest
  • Jim Wooten

Fall 2007

  • *Jerry Kammer
  • Diana Henriques

Spring 2007

  • *Sydney Schanberg
  • *Karen DeYoung

Fall 2006

  • Juan Williams
  • Jennifer Hunter

Spring 2006

  • #Tom Verducci
  • Steve Lopez

Fall 2005

  • *Anne Hull
  • *Buzz Bissinger

Spring 2005

  • *David Zucchino
  • *Bill Marimow

Fall 2004

  • *Walter Mears
  • *Cynthia Tucker

Spring 2004

  • *David Shribman
  • Ken Fuson

Fall 2003

  • #Rod Nordland
  • Bill Lyon

Spring 2003

  • *Steve Twomey
  • Alicia Shepard

Fall 2002

  • *David Halberstam
  • *Paul Greenberg

Spring 2002

  • *Leonard Pitts Jr.
  • Claire Smith
  • #Lori Shontz

Fall 2001

  • *Richard Ben Cramer
  • *David Maraniss

Spring 2001

  • *Michael Gartner
  • Wil Haygood
  • #Ann Gerhart

Fall 2000

  • *Anna Quindlen
  • Mark Bowden
  • #Jerry Schwartz

Spring 2000

  • *Ron Suskind
  • *Madeleine Blais
  • #Paul Hendrickson

Fall 1999

  • James McBride
  • *Michael Vitez
  • #Alecia Swasy