FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PETER QUINN, MANHATTAN COLLEGE ALUMNUS, SEASONED HISTORIAN AND WRITER, TO DELIVER GRADUATE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College alumnus Peter Quinn ’69, writer and historian, will deliver the keynote address at the College’s 162nd Spring (Graduate) Commencement on Wednesday, May 19.  During the ceremony, Mr. Quinn will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.  The ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the College’s Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers.

The College will award more than 200 degrees in the graduate programs of biotechnology, education and engineering as well as undergraduate degrees in organizational management through the College’s adult degree completion program.

Mr. Quinn is currently the corporate editorial director at Time Warner.  He joined Time Inc. as the chief speechwriter in 1985 and has remained at the company through its many changes and mergers, including its high profile marriage with Internet giant America Online (AOL).  In the course of his 19-year career there, he has written for five different chairmen.

Prior to joining the media powerhouse, Mr. Quinn kicked off his speechwriting career serving the leaders of New York.  In 1979, he joined the staff of Gov. Hugh Carey as chief speechwriter.  He continued in that role under Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Shortly after graduating from Manhattan College in 1969 with a bachelor’s in history, Mr. Quinn served as a VISTA volunteer in Kansas City, Kan., where he worked as an adult education teacher.  He subsequently taught at Paramus Catholic High School and in 1974 received a master’s degree in history from Fordham University.

Mr. Quinn is the co-author of the 1987 television documentary McSorley’s New York, which nabbed a New York-area Emmy award for “Outstanding Historical Programming.”   His 1994 novel, Banished Children of Eve (Viking/Penguin), won a 1995 American Book Award.  His second novel, Eat the Moon (Overlook Press), is scheduled for publication in 2005.  In addition to his book writing, Mr. Quinn was the editor of The Recorder: The Journal of the American Irish Historical Society and also has written several articles and reviews in American Heritage, The Catholic Historical Review, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Manhattan College was founded in 1853 upon the Lasallian tradition of excellence in teaching, inspired by St. John Baptist de La Salle.  Manhattan College, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2003, is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning that offers more than 40 major programs of study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science. 

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