SJU Commencement 2001

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Fred de Sam Lazaro, correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, will deliver the commencement address at Saint John's at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 27, in the Saint John's Abbey Church.

De Sam Lazaro joined The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in 1985 as a contributing correspondent, and was a medical correspondent from 1993 to 1995. De Sam Lazaro has wide-ranging assignments nationwide, plus several projects in East Africa, India, Thailand, Russia and England. Topics of concentrated coverage include health care policy, public health, all aspects of the AIDS pandemic, genetics and medical ethics.

He received a Journalism Fellowship from the University of Michigan Graduate School, where he concentrated on medical and public health issues. In addition to The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, he is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars on Asian American issues as well as on journalism.

Born in Bangalore, India, de Sam Lazaro is married and has three children. He now lives in St. Paul, and is based at KTCA.

The commencement address will be part of ceremonies that will feature the awarding of the Pax Christi Award to Douglas A. Johnson, executive director of the Center for Victims of Torture, and the presentation of an honorary degree.

De Sam Lazaro will receive a Doctor of Laws degree. Joseph Tinguely, a philosophy major from Harwood, N.D., will be the student commencement speaker, as selected by this year's SJU senior class. The 2001 Saint John's graduating class includes 420 undergraduate men and 20 School of Theology·Seminary graduates.

Saint John's University for men and the College of Saint Benedict for women are partners in liberal arts education, providing students the opportunity to benefit from the distinctions of not one, but two nationally recognized Catholic, undergraduate colleges. Together the colleges challenge students to live balanced lives of learning, work, leadership and service in a changing world.