Thomas L. Friedman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times and bestselling author, will be the keynote speaker at a President's Associates dinner Dec. 7 at the University of Oklahoma.

Friedman will be honored earlier in the day as the recipient of the Gaylord Prize in recognition of his lifetime of excellence in journalism.

"It is an honor for the University of Oklahoma to host one of the most outstanding journalists and creative thinkers of our times," OU President David L. Boren said.

In the course of his journalistic career, Friedman has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles reporting the Middle East conflict, the end of the Cold War, U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy and international economics.

Friedman is the author of five books on foreign affairs and globalization, with several focusing on world affairs following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

His first book, "From Beirut to Jerusalem," won both the National Book Award and the Overseas Press Club Award in 1989 and was on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly 12 months; it has been published in more than 27 languages and is now used as a basic textbook on the Middle East in many high schools and universities.

In his 2005 book, "The World Is Flat," which received the first Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, Friedman looks at globalization and its opportunities for individual empowerment, its achievements at lifting millions out of poverty, and its environmental, social and political drawbacks.

Friedman's latest book is the No. 1 bestseller "Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution -- and How It Can Renew America." As in his previous book, his newest effort focuses on globalization, specifically climate change and the rising competition for energy.

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."

Limited seating is available for the dinner for OU students, faculty and staff, with overflow seating available to the public. For reservations, more information and accommodations on the basis of disability, call the OU Office of Special Events at 325-3784.