Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Anna Quindlen will deliver the commencement address for the class of 2017, Chancellor Mark Wrighton announced at the annual senior class toast today.

Quindlen is a former reporter and columnist for the New York Times who won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her nationally syndicated column “Public and Private.” She is also the author of eight best-selling novels and the first to have books appear on the New York Times’ fiction, nonfiction and self-help best-seller lists.

Courtesy of Public Affairs

In addition to delivering the address at Commencement May 19, Quindlen will also receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. Quindlen is also a graduate of Barnard College and a fellow of the Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Wrighton pointed to Quindlen’s message and mission as what aligns her with Washington University and what makes her an exciting pick.

“As a writer, she is concerned with many of the same issues and ideals that drive us as a university, including education, health care and social justice, and the trajectory of her exemplary career is a model and inspiration for today’s graduates looking to find their place in the world,” Wrighton wrote in a statement.

Wrighton also noted that the nature of Quindlen’s work makes her an excellent choice.

“As a journalist, social critic, memoirist and novelist, Anna Quindlen has made a life of pointing out the foibles and the strengths of American life, and I am looking forward to her message to our graduating class,” he added.

Additional reporting by Sam Seekings.