When David Remnick was first contacted about giving Syracuse University’s 2014 commencement address, something didn’t seem right.

“I thought they had the wrong number,” he said.

Two of Remnick’s favorite speeches of the last decade were given in the Carrier Dome, he said. One is George Saunders’ convocation speech to the College of Arts and Sciences in 2013 and the other, Aaron Sorkin’s commencement address in 2012.

Now Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker,will have the opportunity to follow the example set by Saunders and Sorkin when he gives this year’s commencement address in the Carrier Dome on May 11. He will also receive an honorary degree from SU, a doctor of humane letters.

Remnick graduated from Princeton University and began his journalism career as a reporter for The Washington Post, where he said he “did a little bit of everything.” He was sent to Moscow as a correspondent in 1988, where he covered the revolution in the Soviet Union.

“It was heaven for a reporter,” Remnick said. “You could write three or four stories a day and still not begin to scratch the surface.”

He said Moscow was very cold, and during that time period, “kind of grim.”

“That’s the life of journalism,” he said. “Opportunity knocked, they needed a second Moscow correspondent. I just thought it was the greatest opportunity I’d ever heard of.”

When he returned from reporting in Russia for The Washington Post, Remnick wrote “Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire,” a book for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1994.

Brian Taylor, an associate professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs who specializes in Russian politics, said he’s very familiar with Remnick’s work. Taylor said the quality that stands out most about Remnick’s writing is how engaging it is.

“He takes a topic I study academically and brings it alive in a way that for average readers and students makes it a more human and lively story than you get from academic stuff written on Russia,” he said.

Taylor added that Remnick has a lot of interesting professional experience and is respected in his field. He said he thinks students and families will find Remnick interesting and engaging.

In 1992, Remnick came to The New Yorker as a staff writer. He spent five years there as a writer before the editor at the time resigned. Remnick was named editor of the magazine in 1998, a role he’s held ever since. Since he became editor, The New Yorker has won 33 National Magazine awards. The job as an editor is very different from what it was as a writer, he said. Now, he said he is more focused on creating a magazine and getting the best out of other people.

“Our goal is to be the best magazine on the planet, that’s the goal every week,” Remnick said.

However, he said he understands that the changing landscape of the media industry means his job as an editor is much different than it was a generation ago.

“We’re living in the midst of a revolution in media,” Remnick said. “So anybody who’s foolish enough to be complacent will not only themselves end up as roadkill, but they’ll also damage or kill the institution they’re working with.”

Melissa Chessher, chair of the magazine department in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said she thinks Remnick has helped make The New Yorker relevant beyond the printed page — something she said is not easy to do.

Chessher, who nominated Remnick in February to receive an honorary degree from SU, was also present when Remnick visited campus in 2008 to dedicate the Bill Glavin Magazine Lab. While he was speaking at the dedication, Chessher said a student asked Remnick what it takes to write for The New Yorker. His answer was something that is important for all students to consider, not just journalism majors, she said.

“He said it takes curiosity,” Chessher said. “And that theme will serve you well, whether you want to be a writer or a doctor or a lawyer.”

Chessher said Remnick’s multitude of experiences and The New Yorker’s constant coverage of a variety of current issues also make him a relevant speaker for the entire graduating class.

“His magazine explores topics that cut across every major at SU,” she said. “Politics, economics, art, film — they’re all in the magazine.”

Stephen Rathbun, a 2014 class marshal, said in an email that he believes Remnick will be a valuable commencement speaker. Remnick’s work has spanned several decades, and he has remained consistently relevant, Rathbun said.

Rathbun said he believes many people were unaware of Remnick when he was first announced as the speaker; however, after finding out more about him, it became a choice that had the potential for an exciting commencement address. Ultimately, Rathbun said he hopes Remnick inspires the graduates.

Remnick said he’s thrilled and honored to be speaking at the ceremony. He’s not sure yet exactly what topics he’ll cover during his address, but said something he’s come to appreciate is the freedom of speech he’s afforded in the United States, as well as the freedom of expression his magazine has.

“I don’t know that I’ll talk about this but I feel very lucky to be born into a country and culture where journalism and more importantly free speech is at a high value,” Remnick said. “And it didn’t take living in Russia to appreciate that, but it didn’t hurt.”

Regardless of what Remnick ultimately talks about, Chessher said she thinks he’ll deliver one of the more entertaining and engaging commencement speeches in recent memory.

“He’s a thinker and a writer and the man knows a good story and I think he’ll make a great speaker,” Chessher said.

Published on May 8, 2014 at 2:35 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27