Award-winning historian, author, and television commentator Doris Kearns Goodwin will present the Cutchins Distinguished Lecture at Virginia Tech tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Burruss Hall Auditorium.

Her talk is titled “Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln.”

Goodwin, whose presentation is based on her recent best-seller, “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” will discuss Lincoln’s quiet but powerful leadership qualities — including his wisdom in building and maintaining teams in trying circumstances and his ability to overcome major obstacles. The book is being developed into a film by Steven Spielberg.

Author of several other best-selling books, Goodwin won the Pulitzer Prize for “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.” She is also the author of “Wait Till Next Year,” a memoir about a love of baseball she shared with her father; “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys;” and “Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.” A contributor, both on and off the air, to the PBS documentaries “LBJ,” “The Kennedys,” “FDR,” and “Baseball,” Goodwin offers a keen historical perspective on political and current events. She also serves as an NBC news analyst.

Goodwin earned a bachelor’s degree at Colby College and a doctorate in government at Harvard University, where she has also taught courses, including a course on the American presidency. She served as an assistant to President Lyndon Johnson during his last year in the White House and later assisted him in preparing his memoirs.

The Cutchins Distinguished Lecture is sponsored by the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development and the Pamplin College of Business and is also held in celebration of Founders Day.

The lecture is open to the public at no charge. No tickets are required. Parking information is available online.

The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development at Virginia Tech aims to educate students about leadership and prepare them to be leaders of integrity and ability. The center is named in honor of the late W. Thomas Rice (Class of 1934, civil engineering), a retired railroad industry executive and former rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The Cutchins Distinguished Lecture series is named for the late Clifford A. Cutchins III (Class of 1944, accounting), a former bank chairman and rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of ethical values and leadership, technology, and international business skills. A member of its marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other centers focus on business leadership, electronic commerce, and organizational performance. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of Robert B. Pamplin (Class of 1933, business administration), the former CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and his son, businessman and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr. (Class of 1964, business administration).

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