Award-winning journalist Jeff Greenfield will deliver the Inaugural Gary Fryer Memorial Lecture Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 4:30 p.m. in the Law School's Levinson Auditorium, 127 Wall St.
Principally known for his reporting and commentary on politics and the media, Greenfield will discuss "The Media at the Millennium: How Did We Get Here?" The lecture is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.
Greenfield recently joined CNN as a correspondent, political analyst and anchor. From 1983 through 1997 he was political and media analyst for ABC News, appearing primarily on "Nightline" and delivering weekly commentaries on World News Sunday. Since 1988 he has served as a network floor reporter for national political conventions, as an analyst on presidential debates and as an election night commentator.
Greenfield was media commentator for CBS News 1979-83, and has frequently appeared on William F. Buckley's "Firing Line" program. He has won three Emmys for his television work, including two for his reports on South Africa, and the Washington Journalism Review named him "the best in the business" for his media analysis.
A graduate of the Law School, he is also a contributing columnist for Time Magazine, and has written for the New York Times Magazine and other publications.
His novel, "The People's Choice," was a national bestseller and was named one of the notable books of 1995 by the New York Times Book Review. The author or coauthor of nine other books, Greenfield is at work on a second novel described as a satirical portrait of big media.
Gary G. Fryer, from whom the new lectureship is named, served as Yale's director of public affairs and special assistant to the president from 1994 until his death in 1997 at age 45. He overhauled and directed the University's efforts to communicate its achievements and goals to Yale's constituencies and to the public at large, and advised President Richard C. Levin and the other University officers on a host of issues.
Prior to joining Yale, Fryer spent eight years as a top appointee in the administration of New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo. As counselor and press secretary to the governor, he oversaw the communications efforts of the administration and the agencies of the state government. He also served as one of the governor's key advisers on diverse public policy issues.
Fryer, who began his professional career as a newspaper journalist, also served as the communications director for the largest and oldest union representing New York State employees, and was a member of the board of trustees of the State University of New York.
The Fryer Lecture, sponsored by the Poynter Fellowship in Journalism at Yale, was established by the officers of the University in January 1997. In announcing the Fryer Lecture, President Levin said, "We would hope and expect the Fryer Lectures to focus on the ethical responsibilities of those engaged in government, higher education and communications -- to continue the conversation that Gary always encouraged among his friends and colleagues about how to be honorable, ethical, and effective in all the various modes of public service."