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2008-09 University Lecture Series
Speaker Bio: Ben Stein
Thursday, March 19, 2008 - 7:30 p.m.
Bio courtesy of Nationwide Speakers Bureau
Ben
Stein is perhaps best known for his work in the entertainment industry
as an actor in movies, TV and commercials. His role of the boring teacher in
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" was recently ranked as one of the fifty most famous
scenes in American film. In 1997, Stein was given his own game show by Comedy
Central entitled, "Win Ben Stein's Money."
In 1973 and 1974, he was a speech writer and lawyer for Richard Nixon at the White House and then for Gerald Ford. Stein has written for numerous publications including: The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Herald Examiner, King Features Syndicate, Barron, Los Angeles Magazine, New York Magazine, E! Online and The American Spectator. He has also authored and published fifteen books, seven novels and eight nonfiction books, on several topics including economics.
In addition, he is credited for doing pioneering work in uncovering the concealed messages of TV and in explaining how TV and movies get made. Some of his titles include: "A License to Steal," "The View from Sunset Boulevard," "Hollywood Days," "Hollywood Nights," Financial Passages" and "Ludes." He was one of the creators of the well-regarded comedy, "Fernwood Tonight."
Ben Stein was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended Montgomery Blair High School. Upon completion of high school, Stein attended Columbia University. After graduating with honors in 1966, he attended Yale Law School, from which he graduated as the class valedictorian in June of 1970. He has worked as a poverty lawyer, a trial lawyer in the field of trade regulation at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. and a university adjunct at several prestigious universities including: American University, UC Santa Cruz and Pepperdine University. Stein has taught a variety of courses including the political and social content of mass culture, political and civil rights under the Constitution, libel law, and securities law and ethical issues.