Walter Isaacson, the acclaimed author of the biographies Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and professor of history at Tulane, will speak at Vanderbilt University on Thursday, Dec. 5, in conversation with John M. Seigenthaler, former news anchor and correspondent for NBC and MSNBC. The discussion will range from mis/disinformation to the art of historical biography to Isaacson’s 2023 biography of Elon Musk.
This event is co-sponsored by Dialogue Vanderbilt and the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries.
In addition to being an author and professor, Isaacson is an advisory partner at Perella Weinberg, a financial services firm based in New York City. He has been the CEO of the Aspen Institute and CNN and the editor of Time magazine. Isaacson’s most recent biography, Elon Musk, is an intimate chronicle based on spending two years by Musk’s side. Isaacson is also a member of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy Advisory Board.
During his 11 years at NBC News, Seigenthaler anchored NBC Nightly News Weekend edition, appeared on Meet the Press, Dateline, TODAY, Weekend TODAY, MSNBC, CNBC and Discovery Channel. He was also an anchor and reporter in local television news at KOMO TV (ABC) in Seattle and at WKRN TV (ABC) and WSMV TV (NBC) in Nashville. Seigenthaler is a managing partner at FINN Partners. He is a member of the Newseum board of trustees and the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors, and he is a member of the judging committee for the RFK Journalism Awards. Seigenthaler is also on the board of trustees for the not-for-profit agency You Have the Power, whose mission is to empower those victimized by crime. He holds a B.A. degree in public policy studies from Duke University.
