Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers
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 41 Pulitzer Prize winners. Ten 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
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