Katie Couric, Rudy Giuliani, Bill Bradley to Speak at UB as Part of Distinguished Speakers Series

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- "Today" show co-anchor Katie Couric, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, astronaut Mae Jemison, best-selling author Amy Tan and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley will headline the University at Buffalo's 2002-03 Distinguished Speakers Series.

UB and the Don Davis Auto World Lectureship Fund will present the 2002-03 series. UB's undergraduate Student Association is the series sponsor.

Katie Couric will speak at 8 p.m. Oct. 11 in Alumni Arena on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. Lecture sponsor is the American Cancer Society. Contributing lecture sponsor is the Independent Health Foundation.

Couric, co-anchor of the "Today" show since 1991, joined the program in 1990 as its first national correspondent. She also is a contributing anchor for "Dateline NBC."

Couric -- a vocal advocate of colon-cancer education, research and screening -- began her career as a desk assistant for the ABC News bureau in her native Washington, D.C., in 1979. In 1980, she joined CNN, where she worked as an assignment editor, associate producer and producer, before being named a political correspondent. She worked at WTVJ in Miami and WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C., before joining the "Today" show.

She has won six Emmys, an Associated Press Award, a Matrix Award, a National Headliner Award and the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi award, and graduated with honors from the University of Virginia.

Rudy Giuliani, 107th mayor of New York City and UB's Student Choice Speaker for 2002-03, will speak at 8 p.m. Nov. 13 in Alumni Arena. Lecture sponsor is Hodgson Russ LLP.

Recipient of Time magazine's 2001 Person of the Year Award, Giuliani is credited as mayor of New York City with reducing crime in the city by 57 percent, cutting welfare rolls in half, reducing taxes by $2.5 billion and creating a record number of new jobs.

With the tragic events of Sept. 11, the rest of the world found out what New Yorkers already knew -- that Giuliani was a determined leader who could bring them remarkable strength and stability at a time of great uncertainty. During the crisis he became known as "America's Mayor."

Born in 1944 to a working-class family in Brooklyn, Giuliani, the grandson of Italian immigrants, learned a strong work ethic and a deep respect for America's ideal of equal opportunity. He attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn, Manhattan College ('65) and New York University Law School ('68, magna cum laude).

As U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, he spearheaded the effort to jail drug dealers, fight organized crime, eliminate corruption in government and prosecute white-collar criminals. During that time, he amassed a record of 4,152 convictions with only 25 reversals.

After barely losing the New York City mayoral election in 1989, Giuliani won in 1993 with a campaign focusing on quality of life, crime, business and education, and in 1997 was easily re-elected.

Astronaut, physician, engineer and entrepreneur Mae Jemison, M.D., will present UB's Martin Luther King, Jr., Commemoration Event at 8 p.m. Feb. 27, 2003, in the Mainstage theater of the Center for the Arts on the North (Amherst) Campus. Lecture sponsor is the UB Minority Faculty and Staff Association.

A National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut for six years, Jemison became the first woman of color to go into space when she blasted into orbit aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

She was selected as one of the top seven women leaders in a 1999 Presidential Ballot national straw poll conducted by The White House.

Jemison is founder of The Jemison Group, Inc., which focuses on the beneficial integration of science and technology into our everyday lives. She also created BioSentient, a medical technology company that develops and markets mobile equipment worn to monitor the body's vital signs and train people to respond favorably in stressful situations.

Jemison serves on the board of directors for Scholastic, Inc. and Valspar Corp. In 2001, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine. She also has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the National Medical Association Hall of Fame. Jemison is an A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.

She received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University and fulfilled the requirements for a bachelor's degree in African and Afro-American studies. She earned her doctorate in medicine at Cornell University Medical College.

Acclaimed best-selling author Amy Tan will speak at 8 p.m. March 26, 2003, in the Center for the Arts Mainstage theater. Lecture sponsor is the UB Office of Special Events.

One of the most highly acclaimed writers of our time, Tan is author of "The Joy Luck Club" (1989), an international No. 1 best-selling novel that explores the relationships of Chinese women and their Chinese-American daughters. The book has been translated into 25 languages, including Chinese, and has been made into a major motion picture. Tan's second novel, "The Kitchen God's Wife" (1991), was the No. 1 best-seller on The New York Times hardcover list and made numerous foreign best-seller lists. Her other books include the best-seller "The Hundred Secret Senses" (1995), her latest novel "The Bonesetter's Daughter" (2001), and two children's books, "The Moon Lady" (1992) and "The Chinese Siamese Cat" (1994).

Tan's father, who was educated in Beijing and worked for the U.S. Information Service after the war, immigrated to America in 1947. Her mother came to the United States in 1949 shortly after the Communists seized control of Shanghai. Born in 1952, Tan grew up in Oakland, Fresno and Berkeley, as well as the suburbs of San Francisco, before moving with her mother and younger brother to live in Europe, where she graduated from high school in Montreux, Switzerland in 1969.

She holds a bachelor's degree in English and linguistics and a master's degree in linguistics, all from San Jose State University.

Political visionary and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley will speak at 8 p.m. April 23 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts. Lecture sponsor is the UB School of Management Alumni Association.

A national leader for more than 30 years, Bradley is known for his hard work, intelligence, candor and vision. Winner of an Olympic gold medal in basketball and two National Basketball Association championships, he represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate from 1979-96, and ran for President in 2000.

While in the Senate, Bradley focused on large-scale reform. He was the driving force behind the Tax Reform Act of 1986, and advocated expanded global trade and budget priorities that bolstered the national economy and met critical human needs.

Today, Bradley is managing director of Allen & Company, Inc., and also serves as chair of the advisory board of McKinsey & Company's Institute for Management of Nonprofits.

He has authored five books on American politics, culture and economy, including a best-selling memoir, "Time Present, Time Past" (1996); "Values of the Game" (1998), a book of basketball inspired essays, and his most recent book "The Journey From Here" (2000).

Bill Bradley was a three-time All-American basketball player at Princeton University, where he graduated with honors in 1965 with a degree in American history. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he earned a graduate degree after studying politics, philosophy and economics.

Affiliate series sponsors of UB's Distinguished Speakers Series are WGRZ-TV; WBFO 88.7 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate operated by UB; University Bookstores, and the UB Graduate Student Association. Contributing series sponsors are BAV Services, the Buffalo Niagara Marriott, UB Alumni Association, UB Center for the Arts and the Western New York Independent Living Project.

Tickets for the lectures are available beginning Aug. 20. Series subscriptions and tickets to individual lectures can be purchased at the Center for the Arts Ticket Office, 645-ARTS. Tickets to individual lectures also may be purchased at any TicketMaster location or by calling TicketMaster at 852-5000. Groups of 10 or more receive a discount on ticket purchases; call 645-6147 ext. 228 for further information. For more information, go to http://www.specialevents.buffalo.edu.