Former New York Times reporter and bestselling author Isabel Wilkerson will deliver the commencement address this year, the University announced Thursday.

Wilkerson, author of “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” and “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” will receive an honorary degree.

“Isabel Wilkerson is a truly remarkable author who has been shining a light on our country’s complex history and awakening our national conscience,” University President Morton Schapiro said in a news release. 

Wilkerson’s latest book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” was picked as a 2020 must-read book by Time magazine and is being adapted into a Netflix film.

She became the first Black woman in the history of American journalism to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for her work as Chicago bureau chief of The New York Times.

NU’s 164th commencement ceremony will take place in-person June 13 at Ryan Field.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @isabeldfunk

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