Contact: Janet Mendelsohn
617-283-2373
email: jmendelsohn@wellesley.edu
February 27, 1997
Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, actress, producer, philanthropist and business leader, will address the Class of 1997 at Wellesley College's 119th Commencement on Friday, May 30. The ceremonies will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Severance Green in the center of Wellesley's campus.
Ms. Winfrey is chairman of HARPO Entertainment Group in Chicago. Through HARPO Productions, she produces prime-time specials, made-for-television movies and children's specials for ABC, and "The Oprah Winfrey Show," the highest-rated talk show in television history, which is seen by 15 to 20 million viewers a day in the United States and is in 132 countries. Since entering syndication in 1986, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has remained the number one talk show on television for ten consecutive seasons, receiving 25 Emmy Awards, including six presented to the host. Oprah Winfrey has been awarded broadcasting's highest distinction, the George Foster Peabody Individual Achievement Award, and received the IRTA Gold Medal Award. She has been recognized by TIME Magazine as one of "America's 25 Most Influential People" and was the first woman to be honored by One Hundred Black Men, Inc. for her achievement in the media and community service.
In 1991, Oprah Winfrey initiated The National Child Protection Act and testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to establish a national database of all convicted child abusers. On December 20, 1993, President Clinton signed the national "Oprah Bill" into law. This past year, she devoted herself and her show to a year-long series, "Oprah's ChildAlert." Dedicated to empowering viewers with information and solutions to improve the lives of children, this special series examined gun violence, poverty, domestic abuse, and the abuse of children.
Oprah Winfrey launched her career in broadcasting at the age of 19 when she became the youngest and the first African-American woman to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. She later hosted the six o'clock news and a local talk show in Baltimore before relocating to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, "AM Chicago," which became the number one show one month later and, in less than a year, was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
As an actor, Oprah Winfrey has received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for her role in Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple." She has also earned critical acclaim for her performances in "There Are No Children Here," and "The Women of Brewster Place," projects produced by HARPO Films that portrayed strong women, representing triumphs of the human spirit.
To help students and families, Ms. Winfrey has been instrumental in moving 100 minority families out of housing projects, and established educational scholarships for hundreds of students at schools and universities across the country.
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