Fareed Zakaria, journalist, political analyst and author, will deliver Ohio State’s spring commencement address on May 5 at Ohio Stadium. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State.
Fareed Zakaria, journalist, political analyst and author, will deliver Ohio State’s spring commencement address, according to an announcement from the university.
Along with hosting Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square) for CNN Worldwide, Zakaria is a columnist for The Washington Post, a contributing editor for The Atlantic, and an author of three New York Times best-selling books.
“An award-winning journalist and best-selling author, Dr. Zakaria is a leading voice in our national discourse on global and domestic affairs,” President Michael Drake said in the announcement. “His extensive knowledge of our broader world will enrich and inspire our graduates as they embark to make a meaningful difference in communities near and far.”
This will be Zakaria’s second trip to Ohio State in three years, after Zakaria delivered the keynote speech at the Fisher Centennial in 2016, an event marking the 100th year of the Max M. Fisher College of Business. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, and a doctorate from Harvard University.
On his CNN show GPS, Zakaria has interviewed former U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other prominent foreign leaders. Since its debut in 2008, the show earned the Peabody Award in 2011 and an Emmy Award nomination in 2013.
A native of Mumbai, India, Zakaria received the Padma Bhushan award in 2010, the third-highest award for civilians in the country given “for distinguished service of a high order,” according to its website.
Though Zakaria has been met with acclaim, he was suspended for a week in August 2012 for a column published in the Washington Post that was plagiarised from a similar article on gun control in the New Yorker. Zakaria apologized for his mistake, calling it “a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault” in a statement.
Prior to working for CNN Worldwide, Zakaria was editor of Newsweek International, managing editor of Foreign Affairs, a columnist for Time, an analyst for ABC News and the host of Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria on PBS. He also previously served as an editor-at-large for Time Magazine.
Zakaria was awarded the Arthur Ross Media Award by the American Academy of Diplomacy in 2017 and was named a “Top 10 Global Thinker of the Last 10 Years” by Foreign Policy magazine in 2019. In 1999, Esquire called him “the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation.”
Zakaria also sits on the boards of the Council of Foreign Relations, New America and Stanford University’s Global Advisory Council.
Spring commencement begins at noon on May 5 in Ohio Stadium and according to the announcement, about 11,700 diplomas are expected to be handed out at the ceremony.
