Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Washington Post syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer will keynote the 2012 Lindau Symposium at Gustavus Adolphus College at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in Alumni Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Since 1985, Krauthammer has written a syndicated column for the Washington Post, for which he won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary. His column is published weekly in more than 275 newspapers worldwide. He is a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard and The New Republic, and weekly panelist on the PBS news program Inside Washington. Krauthammer is also a contributor for Fox News, appearing nightly on the station’s evening news program, Special Report with Bret Baier.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough calls him “without a doubt, the most powerful force in American conservatism,” while New York Times columnist David Brooks says that today “he’s the most important conservative columnist.” The Financial Times called him “the most influential commentator in America.”
Born in New York City and raised in Montreal, Krauthammer earned his bachelor’s degree from McGill University in 1970 and then his medical degree from Harvard University in 1975. He served as resident and then chief resident in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital for three years before leaving medical practice to move to Washington to help direct planning in psychiatric research in President Jimmy Carter’s administration. He later served as a speechwriter for Vice President Walter Mondale before entering the field of journalism in 1981. In 1984 he won the National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism for his work at The New Republic.
From 2001 to 2006, Krauthammer served on the President’s Council on Bioethics. He is president of The Krauthammer Foundation and chairman of Pro Musica Hebraica, an organization dedication to the recovery and performance of lost classical Jewish music.
Gustavus established the Lindau Symposium in 2009 thanks to generous funding from the Phil ’58 and Nancy Lindau family. The goal of the Symposium is to encourage dialogue among Gustavus faculty, staff, and students and to promote broad-based intellectual rigor and appreciation of all viewpoints in order to cultivate a campuswide respect for civil discourse for future generations. Past Lindau Symposium speakers include the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus (2007) and Dinesh D’Souza (2011).
The Lindau Symposium was also established to honor the memory of Phil Lindau, who passed away in 2006. Phil devoted many years of his life to help ensure the future success and advancement of Gustavus. He served the College as a member of both the Alumni Association Board and the Board of Trustees, which he chaired from 1992 to 1995. Lindau also chaired the Building a Greater Gustavus Campaign following the 1998 tornado and was awarded the Greater Gustavus Award in 2003 for his commitment and generosity to the College.
For more information about the Lindau Symposium, go online to gustavus.edu/events/lindau.
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