Valerie Plame, a former operations officer with the Central Intelligence Agency and best-selling author, will be the featured speaker for the 2016 Welty Gala Friday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Mary Ellen Weathersby Pope Banquet Room.
As a covert CIA operations officer, Plame worked to protect America’s national security and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In 2003, she found herself in the middle of a political firestorm when senior White House and State Department officials revealed her secret status to national journalists, including a syndicated newspaper columnist who published her name.
The subsequent federal investigation led to the indictment of Lewis Libby, who was found guilty on four of the five counts against him.
Since that time, Plame has become a public advocate and respected authority on issues of national security, nuclear proliferation and politics. She is the author of three books, including fictional thriller “Blowback,” the sequel “Burned,” and “Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House,” which was later made into a major motion picture starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.
Plame holds a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. She and her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, are the parents of teenage twins.
The Welty Gala is part of the signature Welty Series held annually in October to honor the university’s world-renowned alumna Eudora Welty. As part of the Welty Series, The W also hosts the Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium set for Oct. 20-22.
Gala tickets are sold at different levels and offer opportunities for attendees to enjoy a private reception with the guest speaker along with premium seating during dinner. A book signing and a question and answer session will follow the program.
Prior to the dinner, guests are invited to a reception with several of the authors who are participating in the Welty Symposium.
“The Welty Gala is an important event to raise scholarships for well-deserved students,” MUW President Jim Borsig said. “Also, it is an opportunity for the community and the area to experience well-known speakers.”
For additional information, please call the MUW Office of Development and Alumni at 662-329-7148 or email [email protected]. Tickets may be ordered online at http://www.muw.edu/welty/gala.
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