News analyst, best-selling author Cokie Roberts to speak at commencement
Cokie Roberts, a political commentator for ABC News, will deliver the commencement address at both campuswide ceremonies at the University of Illinois on May 13 at Assembly Hall.
The ceremonies take place at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Roberts, who provides analysis for all network news programming,
co-anchored “This Week” from 1996-2002 with Sam Donaldson. She also
serves as senior news analyst for National Public Radio.
In her more than 40 years in broadcasting, she has won numerous
awards, including three Emmys. She is a member of the Broadcasting and
Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by American Women in Radio and
Television as one of the 50 greatest women in the history of
broadcasting.
Roberts and her husband, Steven V. Roberts, write a weekly
column syndicated in newspapers around the country by United Media. The
Robertses also are contributing editors to USA Weekend Magazine. Their
co-written book “Our Haggadah: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith
Families” was published in 2011. Their earlier collaboration, “From This
Day Forward,”an account of their more than 40-year marriage and other
marriages in American history, was a New York Times best-selling book.
All of Cokie Roberts’ other books have been best-sellers,
including a No. 1 best-seller, “We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters,” an
account of women’s roles and relationships throughout American history.
Her other books – “Founding Mothers,” published in 2004, and “Ladies of
Liberty,” 2008 – are histories of women in America’s founding era.
Roberts holds more than 25 honorary degrees and serves on the
boards of several non-profit institutions. In 2008 the Library of
Congress named her a “Living Legend,” one of few Americans to have
attained that honor.
She is the mother of two and grandmother of six.
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