Tim Russert, Moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, to Address Holy Cross Graduates

WORCESTER, Mass. – Tim Russert, managing editor and moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press and political analyst for the network’s Nightly News and Today programs, will deliver the principal address and receive an honorary degree at the 159th Commencement ceremony at the College of the Holy Cross on May 27. The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. at Fitton Field. In case of rain, the commencement exercises will be held in the Hart Recreation Center.

Russert joined NBC News in 1984, and, the following year, supervised the live broadcasts of the Today program from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II — a first for American television. In 1991, he took over the helm of Meet the Press, which has since become the most-watched Sunday morning interview program in America. He also anchors The Tim Russert Show, a weekly interview program on CNBC and serves as a contributing anchor for MSNBC. In addition, Russert is the senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News.

During his career, he has interviewed nearly every major figure on the American political scene and has moderated numerous gubernatorial, U.S. Senate and presidential primary candidate debates.

Russert is a graduate of a Jesuit high school and college. In his bestselling memoir, Big Russ and Me, Russert writes with fondness and appreciation of his Jesuit education. He is a graduate of Canisius High School in Buffalo, John Carroll University in Cleveland and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Russert lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Maureen Orth, who is a writer for Vanity Fair magazine.

The College has announced that the following individuals will also receive honorary degrees at Commencement:

Rev. Daniel Harrington, S.J., widely published and renowned scripture scholar and professor of the New Testament at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology.

Edward P. Jones ’72, acclaimed fiction writer and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Known World.

Park B. Smith ’54, retiring Trustee and successful entrepreneur, designer and wine connoisseur, whose generosity to the College is marked by the Carol and Park B. Smith Hall and the Carol and Park B. Smith Wellness Center.

Updated news on Commencement is available at : http://www.holycross.edu/events/commencement/index.htm