Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate, and Professional in Residence at Kent State University School of Journalism. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for Commentary for columns that judges praised for providing “a voice for the underdog and the underprivileged.” She also won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting and the Batten Medal, which honors “a body of journalistic work that reflects compassion, courage, humanity and a deep concern for the underdog.” Schultz is the author of two books published by Random House: Life Happens – And Other Unavoidable Truths, a collection of essays, and …and His Lovely Wife, a memoir about her husband Sherrod Brown’s successful 2006 race for the U.S. Senate. Her upcoming novel, The Daughters of Erietown will also be published by Random House June 2020. Since January of 2007, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown has held more than 300 community roundtables across Ohio’s 88 counties with students, local leaders and business owners, entrepreneurs and educators, workers and families to find ways to rebuild the economy. Brown serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, and serves on the Senate Committee on Finance. He is the first Ohio Senator in 40 years to serve on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. He served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Innovation, and is the only Ohio Senator ever to serve a full Senate term on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Prior to serving in the Senate, Brown served as a United States Representative for the 13th District, Ohio’s Secretary of State, a member of the Ohio General Assembly, and has taught in Ohio’s public schools and at The Ohio State University. This lecture is presented in partnership with the Department of Education.