CNN Correspondent To Speak At Penn State Commencement

8-4-97
University Park, Pa. -- Charles Bierbauer, CNN's senior Washington correspondent, will be the speaker for Penn State's 1997 Undergraduate Summer Commencement ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 9 at 10:30 a.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Bierbauer, a Distinguished Alumnus and Alumni Fellow, holds bachelor's degrees in journalism and Russian and a master's degree in journalism from Penn State.

An estimated 1,494 undergraduate students will receive degrees during the Summer Commencement ceremony.

Bierbauer covers critical public policy issues for CNN and in 1992 was named senior correspondent. His areas of expertise include national policies and presidential politics. Earlier this year he added the Supreme Court and legal matters to his portfolio, which also includes the federal budget, tax reform and health care.

Bierbauer was senior White House correspondent for nine years during the Reagan and Bush administrations, spending more years in the White House than any U.S. president except Franklin D. Roosevelt. He has traveled with presidents to all 50 states and more than 30 nations, covering four presidential election campaigns since 1984.

From 1985 to 1995 Bierbauer was the host of CNN's "Newsmaker Saturday," a weekly report featuring in-depth interviews with leading newsmakers.

In addition to his domestic experience, Bierbauer has 12 years experience as an international journalist. He covered every U.S.-Soviet summit beginning with Ford-Brezhnev in 1975 through the first post-Soviet summit, Bush-Yeltsin in 1993.

A past president of the White House Correspondents' Association, Bierbauer has received an Overseas Press Club award and the gold and silver medals of the Houston Film Festival. He has shared in several Cable ACE awards at CNN.

Graduate School ceremonies for Penn State master's and doctoral recipients will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9, in Eisenhower Auditorium. The commencement speaker is Nina V. Fedoroff, professor of biology, director of the Life Sciences Consortium, director of the Penn State Biotechnology Institute, and the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences.

An estimated 219 students will graduate with associates degrees, 1,275 with baccalaureate degrees, 673 with master's degrees and 233 with doctorates, for a total of 2,400 graduates. Degrees for both the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies will be conferred by Penn State President Graham Spanier.

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Contact: Karen I. Wagner (814) 865-7517 (office) (814) 867-0797 (home) kiw1@psu.edu