Nicholas Kristof, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author, will deliver the Wilkes University Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 16, 2025, at the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 239 South River St., Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
How good do you really have to be, to be christened the reporter’s reporter…by other reporters? You have to be Nicholas Kristof–good. After working in France, Kristof began backpacking in Africa and Asia, writing articles to cover his expenses. He’s lived on four continents, reported on six and traveled to more than 150 countries. During his travels, he has caught malaria, experienced wars, confronted warlords, encountered an Indonesian mob carrying heads on pikes and survived an African airplane crash. Kristof not only managed to survive and press on, he also won two Pulitzers in the process — advocating human rights and giving a voice to the voiceless.
In 1990, Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, then also a New York Times journalist, became the first husband-wife team to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism for their coverage of China’s Tiananmen Square democracy movement. Kristof won his second Pulitzer in 2006 for what the judges called “his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur and that gave voice to the voiceless in other parts of the world.”
Kristof and WuDunn have written five bestselling books: Tightrope, Half the Sky, A Path Appears, China Wakes and Thunder from the East. Oprah Winfrey devoted two full programs to their work, and they have been on countless other television programs. Half the Sky and A Path Appears each inspired a prime-time PBS documentary series. Kristof is also the author of Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope and his newest book, a memoir entitled: Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life.
After joining The New York Times in 1984, Kristof served as a correspondent in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo. He has covered presidential politics, interviewed everyone from President Obama to Iranian President Ahmadinejad and was the first blogger on The New York Times website.
As a speaker, Kristof always keeps audiences on the edge of their seats with his moving storytelling and incomparable insights into the events that shape our world. Audiences are captivated by his global adventures and leave inspired to drive change, take on challenges and make a difference.
The Rosenn Lecture is free and open to the public, though registration is required.
For more information and online registration, visit wilkes.edu/rosenn.
About the Rosenn Lecture
The Max Rosenn Lecture in Law and Humanities was established at Wilkes University in 1980 in recognition of Judge Rosenn’s exceptional contributions to public service. It was established by his former law clerks, his law firm, Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald, family and friends. Past speakers include Jill Lepore, Jon Meacham, Terry Gross, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bryan Stevenson, Anna Deavere Smith, Cory Booker and Bob Woodward.
