Journalist and former presidential adviser David Gergen to speak at Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 17, 2004 – Journalist, author, professor, and former presidential adviser David Gergen will give a talk at Virginia Tech on Thursday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Burruss Auditorium. Gergen is the featured speaker for the Cutchins Distinguished Lecture, sponsored by the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in the Pamplin College of Business. His talk, "Eyewitness to Power: Leadership in America," is open to the public at no charge.

Gergen is editor-at-large at U.S. News & World Report and a professor of public service at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where he directs the Center for Public Leadership.

An active participant in American national life for more than 30 years, Gergen served as President Reagan's director of communications and as a White House adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Clinton. He returned to private life in January 1995.

Author of "Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton," he hosted the "World at Large" discussion series on PBS and is a regular contributor to The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and other news shows.

A native of Durham, N.C., Gergen earned a bachelor's degree at Yale in 1963 and a law degree at Harvard in 1967. He is a member of the District of Columbia bar. He served for three-and-a-half years in the U.S. Navy. Active on many non-profit boards, Gergen chairs the national selection committee for the Ford Foundation's program on innovations in American government. He and his wife, Anne Gergen, have two children and live in Cambridge, Mass.

The VTCC 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 W. Thomas Rice, class of '34, a retired railroad industry executive and former rector of the 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 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 leadership skills and ethical values and the integration of technology in the academic curriculum, and prepares students for global business challenges through faculty-led study abroad programs. The college has research centers that focus on business leadership, electronic commerce, energy modeling, and wireless telecommunications. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students.