2007 L'Hommedieu Visiting Lecturer
Series
Dee Dee Myers, Former White House Press Secretary
"Women In Power"
Wednesday, March 28, 2007, Douglass College
Center
Join us as Dee Dee Myers, former Press Secretary to
President Bill Clinton, delivers the 2007 L’Hommedieu Lecture
on March 28, 2007, at Douglass College Center in Trayes Hall (100
George Street, New Brunswick, NJ) at 7:30 p.m.
Dee Dee Myers is the political editor of Vanity Fair, where she
helps direct the magazine’s political coverage, assists its
correspondents and writes stories of her own. According to Vanity
Fair’s Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter, Myers was selected
to fill the newly created position in 1995 because “she is
that rare political hand: adored by Democrats and respected by Republicans."
Prior to joining Vanity Fair, Myers served as White House Press
Secretary under President Clinton from 1993-1994. She was the first
woman and the youngest person ever to hold that job. Armed with
sharp political instincts and an irreverent sense of humor, Myers
quickly earned the respect of the press and the public with her
ability to explain complex subjects in straightforward language.
Asked how she dealt with an often combative press corps, Myers once
said: “Never take it personally and never lose your sense
of humor."
As a member of the President’s inner circle, Myers viewed
firsthand the making of history. From the signing of the monumental
Mid-East peace accords to the passage of the President’s first
budget, from the decision to send U.S. forces into Haiti to the
battle to reform health care, Myers was there. She traveled with
Clinton to forty-eight states in pursuit of the presidency. After
Clinton was elected, Myers was part of the President’s official
delegation on trips to twenty-five foreign countries, including
Russia for the signing of historic de-nuclearization agreements,
the Normandy Coast of France for the 50th Anniversary of D.Day,
and Japan in pursuit of freer and fairer trade.
After leaving the White House, Myers filled the liberal chair on
the CNBC political talk show “Equal Time” for two years,
matching wits nightly with conservative co-hosts Mary Matalin and
then Bay Buchanan. She left the show in May of 1997.
Before joining the Clinton campaign in 1991, Myers worked on a
variety of local, state and national political figures. She served
as press secretary for Dianne Feinstein in her 1990 race for governor,
and worked on the presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale and Michael
Dukakis. She also worked on the staffs of Los Angeles Mayor Tom
Bradley and California State Senator Art Torres.
A life-long sports enthusiast, Myers runs, swims, cycles, hikes
and plays golf. She is also a devoted fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ms. Myers is a 1983 graduate of Santa Clara University. She lives
in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Todd S. Purdum, a correspondent
for The New York Times, and their daughter, Kate, and son, Stephen.
The annual Frances B. L'Hommedieu Visiting Lecturer
Series hosts a distinguished visitor annually. The lecture series
began in 1984 in honor of Frances Bradley L'Hommedieu, a 1926 graduate.
Visiting lecturers meet with our students and faculty during the
day and deliver a free public lecture for alumnae and friends in
the evening.
Recent lecturers have included Pulitzer Prize-winning
author Frank McCourt; Doris Kearns Goodwin, political commentator,
author, and former special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson;
renowned primatologist Jane Goodall; Mary Robinson, former President
of Ireland; Carolyn G. Heilbrun, renowned humanities professor and
author; Jill Ker Conway, former president of Smith College; and
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, national correspondent for "The Lehrer
News Hour." Other speakers have included the Honorable Helen
Suzman, Patricia Schroeder, Sir Stephen Spender, Doctors Without
Borders nurse Mary Lightfine, Margarita Papandreou, renowned child
psychologist Sylvia Barkan Rimm '57, and Dr. Antonia Coello Novello,
Commissioner of Health of the State of New York, and former Surgeon
General.
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