New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman to Speak at Yale

New York Times columnist and author Thomas Friedman will present a lecture titled “Reflections on the post 9-11 Middle East” at 4:30 p.m. today in the Luce Hall auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Avenue.

Recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes, Friedman became the paper’s foreign-affairs columnist in 1995. Previously, he served as chief economic correspondent in the Washington bureau and before that he was the chief White House correspondent.

Friedman joined The Times in 1981 and was appointed Beirut bureau chief in 1982. In 1984 Friedman was transferred from Beirut to Jerusalem, where he served as Israel bureau chief until 1988. Friedman was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Lebanon), the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Israel) and the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. His book, “From Beirut to Jerusalem” (1989), won the National Book Award for non-fiction in 1989. “The Lexus and the Olive Tree” (2000) won the 2000 Overseas Press Club award for best nonfiction book on foreign policy and has been published in 20 languages. Friedman’s latest book is “Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11.”

He also wrote the text accompanying Micha Bar-Am’s book, “Israel: A Photobiography.”

Born in Minneapolis on July 20, 1953, Friedman received a B.A. degree in Mediterranean studies from Brandeis University in 1975. In 1978 he received a Master of Philosophy degree in Modern Middle East studies from Oxford.

Friedman’s visit to Yale is sponsored by the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.