Fareed Zakaria, the guest speaker for this year's New Student Convocation, last appeared on the UM campus in 2007, when he received an honorary doctor of humane letters during spring commencement ceremonies.

Fareed Zakaria, weekly host for CNN, editor of Newsweek International, and a New York Times bestselling author, will address the University of Miami community as the speaker of this year’s New Student Convocation on Friday, August 20 at 9:30 a.m. in the BankUnited Center.

All new UM students and their parents are welcome to attend, as well as returning students, faculty, and staff. A ’Cane Card is required for entry. Doors open at 8:30 a.m.

Zakaria, who first came to national prominence with an October 2001 Newsweek cover story he wrote in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, will speak on “The Future of Freedom.” This is also the title of his bestselling latest book, which examines the tensions between democracy and freedom and between markets and mass politics. Zakaria’s remarks will provide insight into the global challenges students will learn to address during their studies at UM. Copies of his books will be displayed for sale.

Since 2008 Zakaria has hosted Fareed Zakaria GPS, a weekly foreign affairs program that airs Sundays worldwide on CNN. Zakaria’s in-depth interviews with the Dalai Lama; heads of state including Barack Obama, Manmohan Singh, King Abdullah II, Dmitry Medvedev, Moammar Gadhafi, and Lula da Silva; and countless intellectuals, business leaders, politicians, and journalists have been broadcast in more than 200 million homes in some 210 countries.

Zakaria, who was born in India and holds a bachelor of arts from Yale College and a Ph.D. from Harvard, last appeared on UM’s Coral Gables campus in 2007, when he received an honorary doctor of humane letters during spring commencement ceremonies. Esquire magazine once described him as “the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation.”

The event is part of New Student Orientation, which offers educational and interactive session to prepare new students for their UM experience.