Christiane Amanpour to Speak at Commencement

International news correspondent Christiane Amanpour will serve as commencement speaker for USC's 2012 graduating class this spring, according to the USC commencement website.

She is the first female speaker since 2003-- when Brown University President Ruth Simmons addressed the graduating class-- and she is the second female speaker since Judge Dorothy Nelson of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals addressed graduates in 1983.

Amanpour is the global affairs anchor for ABC News as well as the chief correspondent for CNN International. Her career spans three decades and began with her first major assignment covering the Gulf War in 1990.  She has since covered an array of international events since, including conducting exclusive interviews with leaders in the Middle East.

She has received multiple journalism awards, including an inaugural Television Academy Award, nine News and Documentary Emmys, four George Foster Peabody Awards, and nine honorary degrees.

Commencement will begin at 8:30 am on May 11 in Alumni Park.

The speaker selection committee has been contacted, and their comments are pending.