The scheduled speakers are:

• Janet Reno on Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 8 p.m., in Eisenhower Auditorium. The nation’s first female attorney general, Reno headed the world’s largest justice and law enforcement office (125,000 employees) for nearly eight years and was responsible for the enforcement of federal laws and for representing the government in court. The longest serving attorney general since before the civil war, Reno used the authority of her office to enforce civil rights and environmental and health statutes, and increase the government’s information technology resources devoted to law enforcement. For ticket information go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/renotickets.html
• Ben Stein on Monday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m., in Eisenhower Auditorium. Host of the Emmy award winning Comedy Central quiz show, “Win Ben Stein’s Money,” Stein graduated as valedictorian from Yale Law School, and served as a speech writer and lawyer for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Stein is a longtime screenwriter, author, and a well-known actor in movies, television and commercials. His part of the monotone teacher in the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was recently ranked as one of the 50 most famous scenes in American film.
• Lisa Ling on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m., in Eisenhower Auditorium. One of five female co-hosts of ABC's daytime talk show “The View,” Ling brings a highly coveted youth prospective to the show. In addition to her work as co-host, she produces “It's a Ling Thing” and “Lisa's Money Thing” segments for the show. Before joining ABC, Ling was a reporter for Channel One News seen via satellite by more than 8.5 million students in over 12,000 high schools. As an investigative reporter, she has hunted down cocaine processing labs in the Colombian jungle, reported on the destruction of the Amazon rain forest and a participated in a joint investigation with Time magazine into a Russian company accused of smuggling nuclear weapons.
• Chuck D on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 8 p.m., in Eisenhower Auditorium. As leader and co-founder of legendary rap group Public Enemy, Chuck D defined rap music and hip hop culture with his ability to rap about issues of race, rage and inequality. A producer, author and lecturer, he is also influential as a force in the alternative production, distribution and promotion of hip-hop, and has long been one of the industry's most outspoken proponents of MP3 music.
• Bob Woodward on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m., in Eisenhower Auditorium. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his and Carl Bernstein’s reporting of the Watergate scandal in the Nixon administration, Woodward has been named one of the Best Investigative Reporters in America by The New York Times. He has been the assistant managing editor of investigative news for the The Washington Post since 1982, and is the only contemporary American writer to author at least seven number one best-selling non-fiction books.
• Gloria Steinem on Thursday, March 21, at 8 p.m., in Eisenhower Auditorium. A noted writer and activist, Steinem has been a leader in the late-twentieth-century women's rights movement. Among her many achievements is the founding of Ms. magazine — the first national women's magazine run by women. She has helped organize and found some of the most prominent feminist organizations in the country, including the Ms. Foundation for Women, Women's Action Alliance and Voters for Choice, and is the author of two best-selling books and countless articles and essays.

J. Craig Venter on Monday, March 25, at 8 p.m., in Schwab Auditorium. One of the most cited scientists in biology and medicine, Venter was the first scientist to read the entire genetic code --the genome--of a living organism. As president and chief scientific officer of Celera Genomics Group and the founder, chairman of the board and former president of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), a not-for-profit genomics research institution, he made world headlines last year when Celera announced that it had deciphered the entire genetic code of a human being, which holds the key to important drugs and treatments for disease.

The Distinguished Speakers Series is sponsored by the University Park Allocation Committee and coordinated by the Distinguished Speakers Series Committee and the Office of Student Activities. Funded by student activity fees, the series is free and open to the public. Tickets are required for the events and will be available at the Eisenhower Auditorium box office about one week prior to each lecture.

For more information, contact the Office of Student Activities (814) 863-3786 or stop by 207 HUB-Robeson Cultural Center.

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Contact:  Amy Neil, Department of Public Information, at (814) 865-7517 or e-mail aen4@psu.edu.