CBS Congressional Correspondent to headline Annenberg Lecture

By Lynna Ye 09/28/15 1:08am

The list of well-known public figures visiting Philadelphia this semester continues to grow with the announcement of the 2015 Annenberg Lecture.

On Oct. 6, the Annenberg School for Communication and the Annenberg Public Policy Center will host 1995 College graduate Nancy Cordes, who will deliver this year’s lecture titled “Chasing the ‘Scooby’ Van and Tracking Trump to the Border: Covering the Wild Ride that is the 2016 Presidential Campaign.” Cordes is a congressional correspondent for CBS News.

After graduating from Penn, Cordes attended Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and worked for ABC News and some of its affiliates before joining CBS News. Cordes recently covered the second GOP debate and the pope’s visit to Washington, D.C.

Seeking to find speakers who would appeal to both graduate and undergraduate students, Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Annenberg School Dean Michael Delli Carpini selected Cordes as this year’s speaker.

“We thought that as students study politics, particularly presidential or congressional politics, they would find it insightful to hear from someone who has the same degree experience that they have, and who has applied what she’s learned — both in political science and the Annenberg School as well — in the outside world,” Jamieson said.

Annenberg Lectures of previous years have included Gwen Iffil, co-editor of Washington Week and PBS NewsHour ; Bill Moyers, former White House press secretary; and George P. Shultz, who has served as U.S. secretary of labor, secretary of the treasury and secretary of state.

First established in 1992 as the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Distinguished Lecture in Communication, and recently merged with the Leonore Annenberg Lecture in Public Service and Global Understanding established in 2006, the current Annenberg Lecture seeks to honor the Annenbergs’ legacy and thank them for their contributions to Penn.

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