CNN's Wolf Blitzer to Speak at 25th Anniversary Celebration of Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies

Wolf Blitzer, lead political anchor at CNN and host of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, will give a talk at the University of Hartford on Sunday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the University’s Lincoln Theater. Blitzer’s appearance at the University is one of the highlights of the 25th Anniversary Celebration for the University’s Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies.

            The talk, which is part of the University’s Rogow Distinguished Visiting Lecturers Program, is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. For tickets, please call 860.768.4228 or 1.800.274.8587.

            Prior to delivering his Rogow Lecture, Blitzer will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University. Blitzer, one of the most respected journalists and commentators in the U.S. media today, has been with CNN for more than 20 years, during which he has reported on a wide range of major breaking stories around the world.

During the 2008 Presidential election, Blitzer spearheaded CNN’s Peabody Award-winning coverage of the presidential primary debates and campaigns. He also led CNN’s Emmy Award-winning America Votes 2006 coverage. He was also among the teams of reporters awarded a George Foster Peabody award for Hurricane Katrina coverage; an Alfred I. duPont Award for coverage of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia; and an Edward R. Murrow Award for CNN’s coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. He is the recipient of the 2003 Daniel Pearl Award from the Chicago Press Veterans Association. Blitzer received the distinguished Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award from The Radio-Television Digital News Foundation in 2011. In 2002, the American Veteran Awards honored him with the prestigious Ernie Pyle Journalism Award for excellence in military reporting, and, in February 2000, he received the Anti-Defamation League’s Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize.

Blitzer began his career with Reuters, a global news agency, in 1972 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Shortly thereafter, he became a Washington, D.C. correspondent for The Jerusalem Post. He joined CNN in 1990 as the network’s military-affairs correspondent at the Pentagon and later served as CNN’s senior White House correspondent. Blitzer is the author of two books, Between Washington and Jerusalem: A Reporter’s Notebook and Territory of Lies.

            Prior to the lecture, Blitzer will be the keynote speaker at a gala dinner celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies. Reservations are required. For more information, please contact the Greenberg Center at 860.768.4964 or mgcjs@hartford.edu.

            The dinner, which begins with a cocktail reception at 3 p.m. followed by Blitzer’s remarks at 4 p.m., honors the Greenberg Center’s founders, Arnold C. and Beverly P. Greenberg. The Greenberg Center was named in honor of Arnold Greenberg’s late father, the founder of Coleco Industries, Inc.

            Arnold Greenberg, former chairman and CEO of Coleco Industries, Inc., is very active as a private investor. He also devotes considerable energy and philanthropy to cultural, educational and social service institutions, including the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, the Jewish Community Foundation, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and the Hartford Stage. He has been a chairman of the board of the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and also the University of Hartford. Arnold has received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University and also the University Medal for Distinguished Service. He received his AB degree with honors from Harvard University and JD degree from Harvard Law School.

            Beverly Greenberg’s life has focused on three areas of community service — education, the arts and philanthropy. She served as chair of the West Hartford Board of Education and as a member of the Connecticut State Board of Education. She served as a docent at the Wadsworth Atheneum, as a life member of the board of the Hartford Stage, and as a member of the advisory board of the Mount Holyoke Museum of Art. Beverly has also been a board member of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. She received her BA from Mount Holyoke College and her M.Ed from Harvard University.