Barker’s book was made into the film “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” starring comic actor Tina Fey in the lead role.
She will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the Multipurpose Room at the Sakowich Campus Center.
Barker was South Asia bureau chief for The Chicago Tribune, directing coverage of Pakistan, Afghanistan and India between 2004 to 2009. After leaving the Tribune, she became the Edward R. Murrow press fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, studying and writing about South Asia. She then covered nonprofits and campaign finance for the investigate news outlet ProPublica. She joined The New York Times in 2014, focusing on investigative stories from the metro desk.
Barker has won numerous awards for investigative reporting, including the Front Page Award for Journalist of the Year, by the Newswomen’s Club of New York, in 2015. Her work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Daily Beast, The Washington Post and The Atlantic. She has also appeared on The Colbert Report, CNN and MSNBC.
The President’s Speaker Series is an annual opportunity for the college community to benefit from the perspectives of national and world leaders, authors, humanitarians and other influential individuals. The series is sponsored by AT&T and Robert McCusker ’68.
The next presenter in the speaker series is Daymond John, chief executive officer of the clothing and hip-hop apparel company FUBU, and an investor on the ABC-TV reality show “Shark Tank.” He appears on campus April 4.
