Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carl Bernstein, who was once a student at the university, will speak at this year’s commencement.

Bernstein, 64, worked with fellow Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward to uncover the story about the Watergate break-in, which eventually brought about the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

“We tried to find someone who is affiliated with the university and has made an impact on society,” said senior economics and government and politics major Robert Toll, the commencement speaker chair for the class of 2008.

Bernstein could not be reached for comment.

Toll said the decision to invite Bernstein had been made earlier in the semester.

“We had been talking about it for a while, and hammered out the details in the past few weeks,” he said.

Bernstein attended the university during the 1960s but dropped out before graduating. He worked for the Daily Journal in New Jersey and returned to the Washington area to work for the Post in 1966.

After leaving the Post in 1976, Bernstein was immortalized in the movie All the President’s Men, in which he was portrayed by Dustin Hoffman.

Bernstein also worked for ABC News and Time magazine before taking his current job as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine. He has authored six books, including three with Woodward about the scandal surrounding Watergate; a biography of Pope John Paul II, which he authored with Marco Politi; a biography of Sen. Hillary Clinton; and a memoir.

In addition to his reporting, Bernstein is also known for marrying novelist Nora Ephron and dating celebrities Bianca Jagger and Elizabeth Taylor.

U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Prince George’s), a university alumnus, spoke at last year’s commencement. Previous noteworthy commencement speakers include comedian Bill Cosby (1992), Clinton (1996), then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (1998) and Google co-founder and alumnus Sergey Brin (2003).Bernstein is the fourth journalist to speak at graduation since 2000, following ESPN reporter Tim Kurkjian, who spoke at the 2007 winter commencement, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell (2005) and The (Baltimore) Sun editor William Marimow (2002). Previous journalists to speak at commencement include nationally syndicated columnist Carl Rowan (1995) and Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham (1980).

Commencement will be held Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m. in the Comcast Center.

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