BENTON HARBOR — The Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan Speakers Series, hosted by The Mendel Center at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor will welcome award-winning journalist and photojournalist Ann Curry 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2.

Curry is the current executive producer and anchor for “Chasing the Cure,” a television series on TNT that connects people suffering undiagnosed medical conditions with doctors all over the country and elsewhere in the world. She was also recently the executive producer and reporter of “We’ll Meet Again,” a 12-hour docuseries that is still running on PBS.

A former NBC News Network anchor and international correspondent, Curry has covered the wars in Syria, Darfur, Congo, the Central African Republic, Serbia, Lebanon, Israel, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as reported on nuclear tensions in North Korea and Iran. She has reported on humanitarian disasters, including the tsunamis in Japan and Southeast Asia, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, during which her appeal via Twitter (@AnnCurry) is credited for helping to speed the arrival of humanitarian planes. She is also the force behind groundbreaking prime time hours on climate change, poverty in America and Iran.

Curry has conducted a long list of exclusive and news-breaking interviews with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, President Ahmadinejad, President Khatami, and Foreign Minister Zarif; Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and First Lady Asma al-Assad; Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, President Ali Zadari, and President Musharraf; Turkey’s President Erdogan; Sudan’s President Omar Bashir and South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir; Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Chad’s President Idriss Deby; as well as U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Walker Bush, and Barack Obama. Other interviews to her credit include those with Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, First Lady Laura Bush, the Dalai Lama, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Elie Wiesel, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among others.

Curry has won seven national news Emmy Awards, numerous Edward R. Murrow awards, Gracie Allen Awards, and National Headliner Awards. The NAACP has honored her with an Excellence in Reporting award. Women in Communications has awarded her a Matrix. Curry has also been given numerous humanitarian awards including those from Refugees International, Americares, Save the Children, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which awarded her a Medal of Valor for her dedication to reporting about genocide.

During “An Evening with Ann Curry: Being a Tour de Force of Determination and Making a Difference in the World,” she will share stories, grounded in her experiences, that will invigorate and inspire.

A pre-presentation buffet dinner will be served in newly renovated Grand Upton Hall. Dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. and includes a garden salad, turkey and bone-in ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, glazed baby carrots, rolls and butter, and pumpkin pie.

During the dinner at 6:30 p.m., Larry and Sandy Feldman will present a 30-minute discussion of their recently published book Building Bridges Across the Racial Divide. This book offers a hopeful view of how well-constructed diversity initiatives can combat entrenched racial prejudice and segregation in American life. The Feldmans will discuss basic principles from their book and illustrate these principles with examples from a variety of racial diversity initiatives, including the Race Relations Council of Southwest Michigan, All God’s Children Community Choir, and Calling All Colors.

Following dinner, ticket holders for Curry’s presentation will take a short walk through The Mendel Center to their reserved seats in the Mainstage. Dinner and presentation tickets are sold separately.

Reserved presentation seats ($50 to $80) and dinner tickets ($35) are on sale now at TheMendelCenter.com, by calling (269) 927-8700, option 1, or by visiting The Mendel Center Box Office in person. The box office, located in the Grand Upton Hall Lobby, is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

This Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan Speakers Series event is sponsored by Kruggel Lawton CPAs.