Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Nicholas Kristof to Give Oregon State Commencement Address June 14

Nicholas Kristof, an opinion columnist for the New York Times and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, will deliver the commencement address at Oregon State University’s 156th commencement ceremony at 10:30 a.m. June 14 at Reser Stadium.

“Nicholas Kristof’s extensive writing and television commentary on human rights, conflict, global health, education, rural communities and many other topics continue to inspire and motivate,” said Oregon State President Jayathi Murthy. “We are delighted he will address OSU graduates as they begin their lives beyond OSU.”

Kristof, who grew up on a sheep and cherry farm near Yamhill, Oregon, has been a columnist for the Times since 2001.

He joined the Times in 1984, initially covering economics. He served as a Times correspondent in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo.

In 1990, Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, then also a Times journalist, won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of China's Tiananmen Square democracy movement. They were the first married couple to win a Pulitzer for journalism.

Kristof won a second Pulitzer in 2006, for commentary for what the judges called “his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur and that gave voice to the voiceless in other parts of the world.” 

He left the Times in 2021 to run for governor of Oregon, but returned a year later after being barred from the ballot.