The 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.
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Previous Lectures
Oct
29
2025
Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
Maria Hinojosa
Date & Time: October 29, 2025, 6:00 pm–7:15 pm
Location: Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library
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Oct
28
2025
Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
Tom Hallman Jr.
Date & Time: October 28, 2025, 6:00 pm–7:15 pm
Location: Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library
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Oct
09
2024
Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
Sarah Kaufman
Date & Time: October 9, 2024, 6:00 pm–7:15 pm
Location: Kern Auditorium (112 Kern Building)
This event has already occurred.
Oct
08
2024
Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
Michael Biesecker
Date & Time: October 8, 2024, 6:00 pm–7:15 pm
Location: Kern Auditorium (112 Kern Building)
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Oct
24
2023
Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
Lyndsay Green
Date & Time: October 24, 2023, 6:00 pm–7:00 pm
Location: Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center
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Oct
23
2023
Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
Date & Time: October 23, 2023, 6:00 pm–7:00 pm
Location: Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center
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Oct
28
2021
Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
Stephanie Saul, The New York Times
Date & Time: October 28, 2021, 10:35 am–11:50 am
Location: Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center
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Oct
27
2021
Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
Jim Schaefer, Detroit Free Press
Date & Time: October 27, 2021, 7:00 pm–8:15 pm
Location: Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center
This event has already occurred.
