2014 Oscar Nominee Speaks to Campus, Public Feb. 5 at UMass Lowell
01/22/2014
Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – Actress Meryl Streep will leave a lasting legacy when she visits UMass Lowell in two weeks for the Chancellor’s Speaker Series, as she is set to establish two scholarship funds for UMass Lowell students. The scholarships will be endowed with all net proceeds from her Wednesday, Feb. 5 appearance at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.
“A Conversation with Meryl Streep” will feature the legendary actress discussing her career – which has spanned five decades and more than 100 roles – with bestselling author Andre Dubus III, a faculty member in UMass Lowell’s English Department. Streep, who holds the record for the most Academy Award and Golden Globe Award acting nominations, is also expected to take questions from the audience during the Feb. 5 program.
The new Meryl Streep Endowed Scholarship Fund will assist outstanding UMass Lowell English majors with the cost of their education. The Joan Hertzberg Endowed Scholarship, also to be established by Streep, will support students who excel in math as Hertzberg did. A former classmate of Streep’s at Vassar College, Hertzberg transferred to Williams College where she was the valedictorian of the college’s first graduating class that included women. Hertzberg, who earned a doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, had a successful career as a therapist, author and teacher in the San Francisco area before her death in 2013.
Streep’s Feb. 5 appearance – co-sponsored by the UMass Lowell English Department’s Theatre Arts Program and the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – is the second in the Chancellor’s Speaker Series. The first event in the series featured author Stephen King and raised approximately $100,000 for a new scholarship fund King established for UMass Lowell students. Streep’s appearance is expected to raise in excess of $100,000 for her two scholarship funds.
A limited number of tickets remain for this once-in-a-lifetime event and sponsorships, which include a reception with Streep, are available. For more information on sponsorships, see www.uml.edu/streep. Tickets may be purchased through the Tsongas Center box office, www.tsongascenter.com and 866-722-8780. Admission to the event is free for UMass Lowell students with valid ID who obtain tickets in advance and in person at the Tsongas Center box office.
UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its 17,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers. www.uml.edu