Audrey Ronning Topping

Prize-Winning Photojournalist, Audrey Ronning Topping, to Receive Honorary Degree from Adelphi University

Garden City, NY
May 1, 2009

Prize winning photojournalist, Audrey Ronning Topping will receive an honorary doctor of arts degree from Adelphi University at its 113^th Commencement on Thursday, May 21, 2009. The ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, NY.

Mrs. Topping is a photojournalist, author, freelance writer, and documentary filmmaker (specializing in Chinese affairs). Her work has been exhibited at the Hallmark Gallery in New York City, The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, The Metropolitan Museum, among many others. Some of her articles and photographs have appeared in the New York Times, National Geographic, Foreign Affairs, Life, Time, Newsweek, Geo, Reader’s Digest, Science Digest, Art in America, and Le Temps Strategic in France.

Mrs. Topping has reported from Indochina, the Soviet Union, Mongolia, South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, Bhutan, China, and Vietnam. She is the author of six books, including Dawn Wakes in the East, Harper & Row, 1972; The Splendors of Tibet, Sino, 1982; and Charlie’s World: the Improbable Adventures of a Hong Kong Cockatoo and His American Family, Times, 1999. She has also written for four television documentaries, and productions for PBS.

Mrs. Topping and her husband Seymour Topping have been working as a team on many different journalistic assignments. They have been posted abroad in Vietnam, London, and Berlin for The Associated Press and also in Moscow and Southeast Asia for the New York Times. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Asia Society, and the Society of Woman Geographers. She currently resides in Scarsdale, NY with her husband.

Adelphi University will confirm more than 2,500 graduates at the associate’s, bachelor’s, masters, and doctoral levels at its Commencement. Adelphi President Robert A. Scott will deliver the Commencement address. Honorary degrees will be given to Suzy Dalton Sonenberg M.S.W ’76, executive director of the Long Island Community Foundation, and Seymour Topping, former administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes and former managing editor of the New York Times. Joan Kuster ’51, dedicated alumna and community member, will receive the Ruth Stratton Harley Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.

For more information and the full day's program, please contact Adelphi's commencement office at 516.877.4695, or visit http://www.adelphi.edu/commencement/.

About Adelphi University: Adelphi University, chartered in 1896, was the first institution of higher education for the liberal arts and sciences on Long Island. Through its schools and programs—The College of Arts and Sciences, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Honors College, Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, and the Schools of Business, Nursing, and Social Work—the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls nearly 8,500 students from 41 states and 63 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.


Media Contact
For additional information, please contact:

Kali Chan Media Relations Director p - 516.877.4040 f - 516.877.3266 e - chan@adelphi.edu