GREENVILLLE, S.C.—Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff will be the keynote speaker at the annual David Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership Dinner Monday, Jan. 11 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
The dinner, sponsored by the Riley Institute at Furman University, recognizes a state legislator who “embodies the highest principles of leadership based on integrity, compassion, vision, civility and courage.” State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg County received the 2009 award. The 2010 winner will be announced later.
The event, held in conjunction with the opening of the legislative session, will feature a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the dinner and award presentation beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $125 each with table sponsorships available. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 864-235-8330.
Woodruff has covered politics and other news for more than three decades at CNN, NBC and PBS. Most recently, she became senior correspondent for “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”
A graduate and trustee emerita of Duke University, she has held jobs from White House correspondent to anchor of numerous news and documentary programs. She has taught at Duke and Harvard and is a founding co-chair of the International Women’s Media Foundation, which promotes and encourages women in communication industries worldwide.
In 2007, Woodruff completed an extensive project on the views of young Americans called “Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard.” Two hour-long documentaries aired on many PBS stations, along with a series of reports on “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” NPR and in USA Today.
The Riley Institute at Furman is named for Furman graduate and former South Carolina governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. It offers a board array of programs designed to engage students and citizens across South Carolina in the various arenas of politics, public policy and public leadership.
The institute created the David H. Wilkins Legislative Leadership Program in 2006 in honor of the respected South Carolina politician, who served as Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives and U.S. ambassador to Canada.
For more information, contact Alexis Sprogis at the Riley Institute at 864-294-3546.