CBS's Betty Nguyen in Penn State Behrend Speaker Series January 20, 2011

CBS Morning News anchor Betty Nguyen will present a program titled “Diversity: Don’t Hide From It, Celebrate It!” in the Speaker Series at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

The Vietnamese-American journalist’s talk will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 20, in the second-floor auditorium of the college’s Reed Union Building. Admission is free and open to the public.

Nguyen will discuss how diversity enriches our culture. “Diversity is all around us, in our schools, in our offices and in our communities. Often, what sets us apart is what makes us great,” she says. “By pooling our diverse backgrounds and experiences, we increase our knowledge and find new solutions to the problems we all face as humans.”

Nguyen joined CBS in early 2010. In addition to anchoring the network’s morning news programming she is a correspondent for CBS News and reports regularly for The Early Show. Prior to joining CBS, she worked for CNN for six years, most recently as anchor of the weekend edition of CNN’s Newsroom. She reported on portions of CNN’s award-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami disaster in South Asia, as well as on the Haitian earthquake, Virginia Tech shooting, London Underground bombing, and Iraqi elections. She began her career as an anchor for the CBS affiliates in Waco and Dallas, Texas.

In 2007, the Smithsonian Institute recognized Nguyen as the first Vietnamese-American to anchor a national television news broadcast in the United States. She also is the co-founder of Help the Hungry, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid to families. Her philanthropic work has earned her a spot in the Philanthropy in Texas Hall of Fame.
Nguyen’s Penn State Behrend Speaker Series presentation is supported by the Student Activity Fee, the Division of Student Affairs and the Harriet Behrend Ninow Memorial Lecture Series Fund. For more information about Penn State Behrend’s annual Speaker Series, phone the Office of Student Activities at 814-898-6171.