Last year, the Distinguished Speaker Series included people such as Janet Reno, Ben Stein and Lisa Ling. This year brings a whole new round of well-known personalities to Penn State.
This year's first speaker is Tipper Gore, who will be onstage at 8 tonight in Eisenhower Auditorium.
Two free tickets per person are available on a first-come, first-served basis at the Eisenhower box office. The office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today.
Aside from being the wife of former Vice President Al Gore, she is a well-known member of several political organizations.
Tipper Gore received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Boston University in 1970 and a master's degree in psychology from the George Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University in 1975.
Before her husband was elected to Congress, she was a newspaper photographer for the Nashville Tennessean.
While Al Gore was in Congress, Tipper Gore contributed to political organizations. She was part of the Congressional Wives Task Force, serving as chair in 1978 and 1979. Gore also co-founded the Parents' Music Resource Center in 1985 to promote consumer awareness. As part of that effort, she helped to establish the Parental Advisory labels that appear on music merchandise.
In 1990, Gore founded Tennessee Voices for Children, which was designed to promote services for children with mental health problems. She also served as the mental health policy advisor to former President Bill Clinton.
In June 2000, Gore formed the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign and currently serves as its honorary chair.
Also during Al Gore's term as vice president, Tipper Gore served as special advisor to the Interagency Council on the Homeless. Gore continued her involvement in photography when she joined the National Alliance to End Homelessness and helped produce an exhibit called "Homeless in America" that toured the nation from 1998 to 2001.
Other speakers in this year's series include former South African President F.W. de Klerk, New York Fire Chief Richard Picciotto, movie director Spike Lee and the first black woman in space, Mae Jemison. For more information, visit the Distinguished Speaker Series Web site at www.sa.psu.edu/dss.
