New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman will be visiting FAU as a speaker for the Alan B. and Charna Larkin Symposium on the American Presidency. The event will take place in the Carole and Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m. 

The symposium, which has taken place every spring semester since 2007, has featured notable guest speakers such as Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsburg, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, and more. 

The program’s director, Stephen Engle, said that Friedman’s vast experience working on foreign affairs gives him a unique vantage point in explaining how he views the American presidency through a global lens for the event.

“People can learn a great deal from someone like Friedman, whose journalistic career has transported him across the globe and placed him in contact with a variety of world leaders,” Engle said. “He has spent his life monitoring and chronicling the global pulse that connects us all to the problems and the solutions confronting the world.”

Michael Horswell, the dean of the College of Arts and Letters, said that Friedman is speaking at the event as an award-winning journalist and author whose specialty began with coverage of the Middle East, including research and writing on globalization and U.S. politics.

“At this time, these are all themes of great interest to our students, faculty and community. It is always important to engage complex ideas with deep thinkers like Mr. Friedman,” Horswell said.

Asked why people should understand the impact and influence of the U.S. presidency through a foreign policy lens, Horswell said that the President affects world affairs with nearly every decision they make with the U.S. being a world power.

“Understanding how the rest of the world relates to our policy decisions is important to international relations and achieving U.S. goals,” Horswell said. “That international understanding hopefully contributes to better relations and a more peaceful world, too.”

Engle believes the symposium is important for people to understand what the global assessment among foreign leaders about the American Presidency has been in recent decades.

“Many global leaders believe that world peace, humanitarian reform, democratic advocacy, and climate change run through the United States, and especially from the messaging coming from the Oval Office,” Engle said. “So it’s vital that we use our symposium as a platform to consider issues that are paramount to world challenges.”

Horswell described Friedman’s career as a “model for all aspiring journalists,” listing his coverage of international affairs and his occupation at the New York Times since 1981. People consider him as “one of the most important commentators on current affairs.”

“One of the most important things students can do at [any] university is to interact with leading voices like Mr. Friedman, consider his arguments, and then critically think through them to form their own understanding of the issues of the day,” Horswell said. 

Students can attend the event for free while prices vary for non-students. To purchase tickets, visit fauevents.com or call 561-297-6124.

Richard Pereira is the Business Manager for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.