Commencement Speaker - Jonathan Alter
Newsweek columnist, author and television analyst
Jonathan Alter, Newsweek columnist, author and television analyst, will be the commencement speaker at Western Connecticut State University’s undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 24.
Alter writes a column for Newsweek that examines politics, media and social and global issues. He also is a contributing correspondent on NBC News and his 2006 book, “The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope,” was a national bestseller.
The 2008 campaign was the seventh presidential election Alter has covered for Newsweek. He frequently interviews American presidents and other world leaders, regularly breaks news and has authored more than 50 Newsweek cover stories on everything from shrinking confidence in the American news media, to Bill Clinton's first interview after leaving the presidency, to Barack Obama's first magazine cover before he arrived in the U.S. Senate to Alter's personal story of living with cancer. Beyond politics and media, he has written extensively over the years about terrorism, anti-Semitism, at-risk children, national service and a wide variety of other issues.
Alter will speak about leadership themes he learned while researching Franklin Roosevelt, such as the importance of optimism and hope ,and discuss how they might relate to Barack Obama’s presidency.
As Alter wrote in “The Defining Moment,” Roosevelt “revived the spirits of a stricken nation. … FDR’s stunning debut in office was the flowering not just of versatile thinking but of brilliant instincts for leadership. Who influenced him? How did he grow himself into a surpassingly inspirational figure? What grand mixture of timing, cunning and character gave him and his generation what he later called a ‘rendezvous with destiny’ ”?
Alter joined Newsweek as an associate editor in the Nation section in March 1983, and became media critic the following year. He was named a senior writer in February 1987 and a senior editor in September 1991. For two years prior to joining Newsweek, Alter was an editor at The Washington Monthly. He has also freelanced articles for such publications as The New Republic, Esquire, Slate and The New York Times.
A Chicago native, Alter received his B.A. in history with honors from Harvard in 1979. Besides "The Defining Moment," he is coauthor of "Selecting a President" and the coeditor of "Inside the System". He is married to Emily Lazar. They live in New Jersey with their children.
