Wall Street Journal columnist and best-selling author Peggy Noonan will give the Cutchins Distinguished Lecture at Virginia Tech on Thursday, March 25, 7:30 p.m., in Burruss Auditorium.

In a talk titled “An Evening of Perspective with Peggy Noonan,” Noonan will draw on her 30-plus years in journalism to discuss American history, politics, and culture, including domestic and foreign policy, the economy, and the current administration.

The talk is free and open to the public, no tickets are required. For assistance, please call (540) 231-9457; parking information is available online.

Noonan’s essays have appeared in Forbes, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and other publications. A CBS News producer earlier in her career, Noonan is a frequent guest on political talk shows. She has been nominated for Emmy Awards for the writing of a post-Sept. 11 television special and for her work on the TV drama “The West Wing.”

Time magazine called her first book, “What I Saw at the Revolution,” “a love letter to the American political process.” Her most recent book, “Patriotic Grace: What It Is And Why We Need It Now,” was published in 2008. Noonan’s other books include “When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan” and “The Case Against Hillary Clinton,” both bestsellers, and a collection of post-Sept. 11 columns, “A Heart, a Cross, and a Flag: America Today.”

Noonan was a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan from 1984 to 1986 and was chief speechwriter in 1988 for George Bush when he ran for the presidency. Her book, Simply Speaking, was published in paperback in 1999 as On Speaking Well, of which Forbes magazine said: “Peggy Noonan packs a wallop of practical wisdom and insightful tips for rookie and veteran speechmakers alike … this wee volume, written by one of this century’s premier presidential speechwriters, will guide you correctly.”

Noonan received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

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 center aims to educate students about leadership and prepare them to be leaders of integrity and ability. It is named in honor of the late W. Thomas Rice, who received a degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech in 1934, a retired railroad industry executive and former rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The lecture series is named for the late Clifford A. Cutchins III, a former bank chairman and rector of the Board of Visitors. Cutchins received a degree in accounting from Virginia Tech in 1944.

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