Jeff Birnbaum, veteran Washington journalist, TV commentator and award-winning author will speak at Lackawanna College’s Mellow Theater on Thursday, November 5 at 6:30 p.m. His program, entitled, Wall Street, Big Banks and Washington: Can they get along?” is presented by the Lackawanna College United Cultures Leadership Institute as part of its new speaker series. The lecture is free and open to the public. Funding for this event is provided by “Wall Street West,” a federal and state supported initiative to develop a total back-up solution for companies in financial services, information technology, and related fields.

Mr. Birnbaum’s program is offered as one of several events during the Lackawanna College homecoming week activities. It is a sort of homecoming for Mr. Birnbaum as well.  Not only is he a Scranton native, but he is also a graduate of the former Scranton Central High School, where the Mellow Theater is now located.

Birnbaum was named managing editor of The Washington Times' digital media operations in August 2008. Prior to this, he was a columnist for the Washington Post. He joined the Post in March 2004, after spending seven years as the Chief of Fortune magazine's Washington Bureau, and two years as a Senior Political Correspondent for Fortune's sister publication, TIME. Before he worked for TIME, Jeff Birnbaum was with the Wall Street Journal for 16 years, where his last role there was White House Correspondent. While with the Journal, he won the Aldo Beckman Award for Excellence in feature writing. On television, he is a political analyst for Fox News Channel and is a regular panelist on PBS's WashingtonWeek.