The Ohio State University announces spring commencement speaker
Fareed Zakaria hosts CNN Worldwide public affairs program
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Fareed Zakaria, a journalist, political scientist and author, will deliver The Ohio State University’s spring commencement address. Approximately 11,700 diplomas will be awarded during the ceremony, which begins at noon on Sunday, May 5 in Ohio Stadium.
Zakaria hosts Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square) for CNN Worldwide and is a columnist for The Washington Post, a contributing editor for The Atlantic, and a bestselling author.
“I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Fareed Zakaria will join us as our speaker for Ohio State’s spring commencement ceremony,” said President Michael V. Drake. “An award-winning journalist and best-selling author, Dr. Zakaria is a leading voice in our national discourse on global and domestic affairs. His extensive knowledge of our broader world will enrich and inspire our graduates as they embark to make a meaningful difference in communities near and far.”
Zakaria visited Ohio State in 2016 to deliver the keynote speech at the Fisher Centennial, an event marking the centennial year of the Max M. Fisher College of Business.
Since its debut in 2008, Fareed Zakaria GPS has become a prominent television forum for global newsmakers and thought leaders. Interviews on Fareed Zakaria GPS have included U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The program earned the prestigious Peabody Award in 2011 and an Emmy Award nomination in 2013.
Zakaria is the author of three New York Times bestselling books: In Defense of a Liberal Education (2015), a commentary on the importance of a well-rounded education; the international bestselling The Post-American World (1st ed. 2008, 2nd ed. 2011), a discussion of the rise of non-Western powers; and The Future of Freedom (2003), a study of “illiberal democracy” in various countries, also an international bestseller.
Prior to his tenure at CNN Worldwide, Zakaria was editor of Newsweek International, managing editor of Foreign Affairs, a columnist for Time, an analyst for ABC News, and the host of Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria on PBS.
In 2017, Zakaria was awarded the Arthur Ross Media Award by the American Academy of Diplomacy. He was named a “Top 10 Global Thinker of the Last 10 Years” by Foreign Policy magazine in 2019, and Esquire once called him “the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation.”
Zakaria serves on the boards of the Council of Foreign Relations, New America and Stanford University’s Global Advisory Council. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, and a doctorate in political science from Harvard University.
