"Why Students Should Care About the World—& Change It" 
50th Annual Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture
November 3, 2016
Hogan Ballroom, Hogan Campus Center
College of the Holy Cross   

Biography:

Husband-and-wife duo Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are journalists and focus on a unique brand of reporting centered on human rights abuses and advocacy. They are the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism for their coverage of China's Tiananmen Square democracy movement, they co-wrote "China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power" (Vintage, 1995) and penned the best-selling "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" (Vintage, 2009). Addressing worldwide maltreatment, marginalization, and brutality towards women, "Half the Sky" draws a compelling picture of the trials and triumphs of women struggling for opportunity and equality. Called "electrifying" by The Washington Post, the book inspired a special four-hour PBS series of the same name. Their most recent book, "A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity" (Knopf, 2014), is a narrative about making a difference in the U.S. and abroad—a road map to becoming an effective global citizen.

A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, Kristof is often called a "reporter's reporter" and was the subject of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival documentary "Reporter." He has lived on four continents, reported on six, and traveled to 140 countries, all 50 states, every Chinese province, and every main Japanese island in order to offer a compassionate glimpse into global health, poverty, and gender in the developing world. As part of the "Half the Sky" documentary series, Kristof travelled around the world along with celebrity activists America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde to meet inspiring individuals confronting the global oppression of women. For more information on Kristoff, please see his Facebook and Twitter feeds. 

The first Asian American to win a Pulitzer Prize, WuDunn is a business executive, entrepreneur, and best-selling author. She has special expertise in Asia, entrepreneurship, global women's issues, and philanthropy. As an investment banker, she currently helps growth companies, including those operating in the fields of new media technology, entertainment, social media, healthcare, and the emerging markets, particularly China. In conjunction with "Half the Sky," she helped launch the development of a robust multimedia effort, creating a thoughtful, effective philanthropic strategy that includes an online social game for Facebook, the PBS documentary series, and outreach with many Nongovernmental organization.