MEDIA ADVISORY
                                                                                   April 12, 2005

Contact:
Terry Hapney, Director of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3112; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 352-5566
E-mail: thapney@shawnee.edu

 To news directors, editors, producers, and reporters:

Former CNN and NBC television news anchor Mary Alice Williams will be at the Shawnee State University Vern Riffe Center for the Arts on Thursday, April 21 at 7 p.m. As part of the Leslie Williams Symposium for the Advancement of Women, Williams will speak on women’s health issues. The free program is sponsored by the SSU Women’s Forum and is partially funded by the Jane M.G. Foster Distinguished Lecture Series and Southern Ohio Medical Center.
 
Mary Alice Williams rose to national prominence as one of the founding anchors and designers of CNN where she served as the cable channel’s main news anchor. In 1989, Williams moved to NBC where she anchored “Sunday Today;” NBC News Special Reports; “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow;” and NBC’s extended coverage of Desert Storm. Williams was also a frequent anchor and correspondent for “NBC Nightly News,” “Sunrise,” and “The Today Show.” While at NBC, she was the first woman to win a national Emmy Award for anchoring the evening “NBC Nightly News.”

Williams is now host of “Quiet Triumphs” on the Odyssey cable network and the author of a book by the same name. She also does a health program called “Daily Rounds.”

Prior to Williams’ appearance there will be a press conference at 4:30 p.m. on April 21 in the lobby of the SSU University Center. Media representatives will have a chance to ask Williams questions and take photos/shoot video.

For more information on the press conference or Williams’ appearance, call the SSU Office of Communications at (740) 351-3810.

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