New York Times Bestselling Author Bebe Moore Campbell to Deliver Keynote Address at University of Pittsburgh 30th Annual Honors Convocation Feb. 24

NOTE: Due to an emergency, best-selling author and Pitt Trustee Bebe Moore Campbell is unable to deliver her scheduled address at the University of Pittsburgh's Honors Convocation Feb. 24. Former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Governor The Honorable Dick Thornburgh will speak at the University's Honors Convocation at 2 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. He will address the issue of responsibility among high achievers. (amended 2/24/06)

PITTSBURGH-Bestselling author Bebe Moore Campbell will deliver the keynote address at the University of Pittsburgh 30th annual Honors Convocation, to be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg will preside over the convocation, which recognizes undergraduate, graduate, and professional student academic achievement; student leadership; and faculty accomplishments.

Campbell, cofounder of Pitt's Black Action Society, earned the Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education at Pitt in 1971. The University of Pittsburgh African American Alumni Council honored her with its Distinguished Alumni Award in October 2003.

Campbell, a member of the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees since 2005, is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel 72-Hour Hold (Knopf, 2005), the story of a mother struggling to cope with her daughter's bipolar disorder. She is the author of three other New York Times bestsellers: Brothers and Sisters (Berkley Publishing, 1995), Singing in the Comeback Choir (Putnam Publishing, 1998), and What You Owe Me (Putnam Publishing, 2001), which also was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001.

Campbell's interest in mental health was the catalyst for her first children's book, Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry (Putnam, 2003), which tells the story of a little girl reared by a mentally ill mother; it won the National Alliance on Mental Illness Outstanding Literature Award for 2003. Campbell's book Your Blues Ain't Like Mine (Penguin Putnam, 1992) was a New York Times notable book of the year and the winner of the NAACP Image Award for Literature. Her first play, Even with the Madness, which debuted in New York City in June 2003, also visited the theme of mental illness and the family.

Campbell's journalistic articles have appeared in numerous prestigious national publications, and her essays, articles, and book excerpts appear in many anthologies. She is a regular commentator on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition."

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