Journalist will deliver commencement address
COLUMBUS – Jodie T. Allen, senior editor at the Pew Research Center, will be the speaker for summer quarter commencement on Aug. 28 at The Ohio State University.
Approximately 1,900 students will receive degrees at the ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. at the Jerome Schottenstein Center.
Allen joined the Pew Research Center earlier this year. It was established in 2004 as a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a Philadelphia-based public charity. It is a nonpartisan “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take positions on policy issues.
The Center's work is carried out by six projects; among them the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Global Attitudes Project, which are Allen's primary concentrations. The first of these programs serves as a forum for ideas on the media and public policy through public opinion research. The Global Attitudes Project surveys opinion in countries throughout the world, gathering information on attitudes toward the United States, the Muslim world and other issues of global importance. Both programs serve as an important information resource for political leaders, journalists, scholars, and public interest organizations.
In her remarks she will focus on the challenges—and opportunities—that rapid globalization implies for today's graduates, drawing in part upon recent surveys conducted by Pew dealing with attitudes toward the United States and toward the American people in countries throughout the world and what American “exceptionalism” means in the modern age.
Allen was previously at U.S. News & World Report where she held positions including managing editor, business editor, senior writer, and author of a bi-weekly column on the political economy. Before coming to U.S. News, Allen was the Washington bureau chief for Slate magazine and the editor of Outlook, the Sunday commentary section of the Washington Post where she was earlier an editorial writer and business columnist.
She has also held positions in government – including Dep. Asst. Sec. of Labor for Policy – as well as in various private organizations, including the Chrysler Corporation, Mathematica, Inc., and the Urban Institute. She was also research coordinator for Family Assistance (welfare reform) Planning in the Nixon administration.
Allen received her B.A. with honors from Vassar College. Memberships include Phi Beta Kappa, the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Allen's son, Ted, has been a faculty member at Ohio State since 1997. He is an associate professor in the department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
