Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, David McCullough will be speaking as part of Miami University's Jack R. Anderson Distinguished Lecture Series at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at Millett Hall.
McCullough attended Yale University as an undergraduate. After graduating he went on to write for magazines such as Sports Illustrated and American Heritage, eventually writing his first novel, The Johnstown Flood. McCullough went on to pen novels such as John Adams, Truman and 1776, which have earned him prestigious awards such as the National Book Foundation National Book Foundation Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award, the National Humanities Medal and thePresidential Medal of Freedom.
Jenny Callison, director of communication for the Farmer School of Business, said McCullough is a distinguished author who deserved to be picked for the series.
"All his books have been critically well received as he manages to bridge the gap between a scholarly approach to history, but written in a way the public will read and enjoy," Callison said.
The school is anticipating a turnout made up of Miami students and professors, citizens of the Oxford community and individuals from the surrounding areas of Cincinnati, Callison said.
Callison said she anticipates a high turnout of individuals who are coming to hear McCullough speak "because they have read his books and realize what a national treasure he is."
Students were motivated to attend the lecture by professors, such as Don Norris, associate professor of marketing.
Norris, who said he "didn't read 1776, (rather he) devoured it," was not requiring any of his students to attend the lecture. Instead he said he only strongly urges them to go because "McCullough brings a balance of perspective."
A value to students at Miami, McCullough could touch upon the fact that while the problems in today's society seem enormous, the problems in structuring the United States were even larger, Norris said.
Junior accounting major Dustin Amrine is excited about David McCullough's appearance at Miami.
"I have read some of his novels and believe that in his lecture he can help students understand the importance and excitement of American history," Amrine said.
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Callison said she hopes students "take away the appreciation of understanding our history. If we don't understand United States history we really are impoverished people."
The talk is free of charge and open to the public.
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