More than 2,400 entries are submitted each year in the Pulitzer Prize competitions, and only 21 awards are normally made. The awards are the culmination of a year-long process that begins early in the year with the appointment of 102 distinguished judges who serve on 20 separate juries and are asked to make three nominations in each of the 21 categories.

Sig Gissler has been administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes since 2002. A special faculty member at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, Gissler is founder of "Let's Do It Better," the school's national Workshops on Journalism, Race and Ethnicity. He is the former editor of the Milwaukee Journal. During his 25 years with the paper, he served as reporter, editorial page editor and associate editor before becoming editor in 1985. He joined the Columbia faculty in 1994 where he taught reporting and writing and created a seminar called "Race and Ethnicity in the New Urban America."

A reception will immediately follow the presentation in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Butler Library, 6th Floor, East). For more information regarding this event or to attend, please respond to cul-events@columbia.edu. To view a listing of events, visit: http://alumni-friends.library.columbia.edu