KNOXVILLE — Sharon Begley, award-winning science writer and science editor for Newsweek magazine, will speak March 5 at the University of Tennessee for the annual Alfred and Julia Hill Lecture on Science, Society, and the Mass Media.
Her talk on “Why Science Journalism Isn’t Science” is set for 8 p.m. in the University Center’s Cumberland Suite. It is free to the public and will be followed by a reception.
Begley has written 28 cover stories for Newsweek on a wide range of topics including cloning, global warming, evolution, human infertility, colliding galaxies and curing cancer.
The Alfred and Julia Hill Lecture, sponsored by UT’s School of Journalism, features presentations by distinguished science communicators.
The lecture is endowed by a gift from former Oak Ridger publisher Tom Hill and his sister, the late Mary Frances Hill Holton. It honors their parents, who founded Oak Ridge’s first successful private newspaper.
Begley began her career at Newsweek 24 years ago, after graduating from Yale University with a concentration in physics. Less than two years later she received the Claude Bernard Award for Medical Reporting.
She since has won two Page One Awards from the Newspaper Guild of New York, two Global Awards for Media Excellence from the Population Institute, two Deadline Club Awards for best feature reporting in a magazine, and many other honors for her writing.