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Leadership Institute Food for Thought Lunch and Lead
October 29, 2020 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Free
You Are Invited!
The Leadership Institute at Purdue Northwest invites all students, faculty, staff and alumni to join its October Food for Thought Lunch and Lead seminar with seasoned political and religion reporter Mary Ann Ahern from NBC Chicago.
Pre-registration is required for the event, which will be held via Zoom.
About Mary Ann Ahern
Ahern, a native of Michigan City, Indiana, where she graduated from Marquette High School has been with the NBC network since 1989.
“Mary Ann Bergerson Ahern has never forgotten where she came from and while she has jetted around the world covering many leaders, she is proud to be from northwest Indiana,” stated Sheila Matias, executive director of the Leadership Institute. “Mary Ann is known as a leader in her industry – one who has opened doors for the young journalists coming behind her. I’m looking forward to hearing her perspective from observing such a diverse collection of leaders over the years.”
On the political beat, Ahern has covered political campaigns from the White House to Springfield to Chicago. She documented the transition from Mayor Richard Daley to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and traveled through the primary states in the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaign. Ahern has covered presidential election nights and presidential inaugurations from Washington, D.C. On the religion beat, she is recognized for her reporting from Rome on the selection of Pope Francis, Pope Benedict’s farewell and the 2014 canonization of pontiffs John XXIII and John Paul II.
Ahern is also recognized for breaking many stories related to the Roman Catholic church. In 1991, she was the first reporter to disclose the priest sex abuse crisis that led to the Chicago Archdiocese eventually opening its files and creating a lay review board, a model other cities followed. Ahern has covered City Hall to Wrigley Field, from Princess Diana’s visit to Chicago to the White House. She’s known for enterprising stories about every day people placed in extraordinary circumstances, like the Marine who had his purple heart revoked. She’s also presented several feature stories on parenting.
About The Leadership Institute
The Leadership Institute at Purdue University Northwest is the hub of leadership development in northwest Indiana. We are building and presenting research-based leadership development programs for regional business leaders, as well as for university staff and students and youth across our regional community.
The Leadership Institute’s Lunch and Lead series is an opportunity for the institute’s program participants, the PNW community and guests to hear from leaders from across varied economic sectors who have wisdom and life lessons to share.
Please contact the Leadership Institute for additional details at (219) 989-2800 or via email at leadershipinstitute@pnw.edu.
To request a disability-related accommodation, please contact the Office of Institutional Equity at oie@pnw.edu or (219) 989-2163 five days prior to the event.