Acclaimed CNN Correspondent Christiane Amanpour to Deliver Keynote Talk for Communication Week at Ohio University

Contact: Anne Keyser, External & Alumni Relations Coordinator, College of Communication, 740-593-0030 or keysera@ohio.edu

Note to media: Christiane Amanpour will be available for interviews at 7:30 p.m., Sunday April 29, in Morton Hall 201. A photo of Amanpour can be downloaded from the Web at: http://www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/AMANPOUR_CHRISTIANE.JPG

ATHENS, Ohio (April 16, 2001) -- CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour will deliver the keynote address for this spring's Communication Week for Ohio University's College of Communication at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 29, in Morton Hall 201. Her talk is free and open to the public.

Amanpour is expected to discuss her extensive career as well as the challenge of maintaining an effective balance between family and professional life.

Based in London, Amanpour regularly conducts exclusive interviews with international leaders and covers events in such tense areas as Iran and Rwanda. Her journalism accomplishments have resulted in numerous awards including a News and Documentary Emmy Award, two George Foster Peabody Awards, the Sigma Chi Award for her reports from Goma, Zaire and two George Polk awards for her coverage in Bosnia in 1994. Amanpour graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor's degree in journalism and began her career at CNN in 1983 as an assistant on the international assignment desk in Atlanta.

The keynote address will set the stage for a weeklong series of events, speakers and activities for Ohio University communication faculty and students. The 33rd annual Communication Week continues the tradition of celebrating the six units within the College of Communication. The events throughout the week encourage student interaction with prominent leaders in the communication field and draw alumni to campus.

Other highlights of the week include:

• The School of Visual Communication Art Show, Sunday, April 29 and Monday, May 30, in Baker Center Ballroom.
• The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Carr Van Anda Award presentation to Don Hewitt, Tuesday, May 1. Hewitt, executive producer and founder of 60 Minutes, will speak in the Baker Theater in Kantner Hall at 10:15 a.m. Following the award presentation and his remarks, there will be a question and answer period as well as a book signing opportunity for Hewitt's recent book, "Tell me a Story: 50 Years and 60 Minutes."
• The Telecommunication Center's "Television in the Digital Age" program, Wednesday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Radio and Television Building's Studio A. Facilitated by John Merli of PBS, this program will cover new opportunities in the digital age of television.
• The J. Warren McClure School of Communication Systems Management's keynote speaker, Vinton G. Cerf, Thursday, May 3, 4:10 p.m. in Baker Center Ballroom. Cerf is the senior vice president of Internet Architecture and Technology for WorldCom. He is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the Internet. In 1997, President Clinton presented this "Father of the Internet" and his partner, Robert E. Kahn, with the U.S. National Medal of Technology.
• The School of Interpersonal Communication's tribute panel for Paul Boase, former school director, 1:15 p.m., Friday, May 4, in Baker Center Ballroom. Boase, who died this past year, also will be remembered at a memorial service at First United Methodist Church, at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

For more information about the College of Communication and Communication Week 2001 events, visit the college Web site at www.commcoll.ohiou.edu/.