Thomas L. Friedman, author and foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, will visit Norman next month to be honored by the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Friedman will be the second recipient of the Gaylord Prize, given to Jim Lehrer in 2008. The Prize is funded from an endowment established by the Edward L. Gaylord family. The Gaylord Prize will be awarded to Friedman at a luncheon at the Sheraton Oklahoma City Hotel 11:30 a.m. Dec. 7.

Friedman is the author of five books on foreign affairs and globalization including the best-selling "The World is Flat," "From Beirut to Jerusalem" and his latest, "Hot, Flat and Crowded." Several of his books focus on world affairs following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Friedman started his career as a general assignment reporter for the London Bureau of United Press International in 1988 before being assigned to Beirut as a UPI correspondent where he stayed for three years before being hired by the New York Times.

At the Times, he has worked as general financial reporter specializing in oil industry news, as chief of both the Beirut and Jerusalem bureaus, as Chief Diplomatic Correspondent and as Chief White House Correspondent during the Clinton administration.

In 1995, Friedman became the New York Times foreign affairs columnist. His columns following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center provided citizens clarifying assessments of the events.

He has received three Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism for his work as well as the Overseas Press Club Award for lifetime achievement. The Wall Street Journal ranked Friedman as the second most influential business thinker in 2008 and U.S. News and World Report named him one of "America's Best Leaders."

In addition to his books and column, Friedman also has his own segment, "Tom's Journal," on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and is also a frequent guest on such programs as Face the Nation and Charlie Rose.