Renowned television journalist Mike Wallace will participate in a 60-minute interview and audience question-and-answer session Wednesday on the Notre Dame campus.
University President Father Edward Malloy will introduce Wallace, anchor and co-editor of CBS' "60 Minutes," said University spokesman Matt Storin. Wallace will then participate in an interview with Robert Schmuhl, professor of American studies and director of Notre Dame's John W. Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics & Democracy. Audience members will be allowed to ask questions at the end of the session.
"He's one of the great legends of our time in television, and I think it's terrific that he is actually adding this event to his schedule while he's in South Bend," Storin said. He said that Wallace is in the area as part of a benefit held by the Suicide Prevention Council of St. Joseph County. Wallace, who has battled depression, is scheduled to speak Tuesday at the Indiana University South Bend campus about his personal experiences with the disease.
"I think all students, whether they're particularly interested in journalism or not, would get a lot out of hearing about his career and what it took to get him to the elite place that he now is in," Storin said.
Wallace, now in his 36th season with "60 Minutes," has received 20 Emmy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy, which he won this year. He is known for his enterprise reporting and no-holds-barred interviewing technique, and has interviewed such figures Presidents Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson and Kennedy, as well as international figures such as Deng Xiaoping, Manuel Noriega and the Ayatollah Khomeini.
The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the McKenna Hall auditorium. It is free and open to the public, with preferred seating for Notre Dame, Saint Mary's, and Holy Cross College students. The Gallivan Program's Marguerite and Lou Keifer Endowment for Excellence in Journalism, as well as the University's Department of Film, Television and Theatre and Office of Public Affairs and Communication sponsored Wallace's visit.
