Ferrum College is pleased to announce that journalist and bestselling author Beth Macy will be the keynote speaker for its 106th commencement ceremony on April 23, 2022.
Beth Macy is the author of the critically acclaimed and New York Times-bestselling books, Factory Man, Truevine, and Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America. Macy served as Executive Producer and writer on the acclaimed Hulu limited television series, Dopesick, which was based on her book and starred Michael Keaton, who won a Golden Globe for his performance as Samuel Finnix.
A longtime reporter who specializes in outsiders and underdogs, Macy has won more than a dozen national journalism awards, including a Lukas Prize for Factory Man, multiple shortlist and best-book-of-the-year honors for Truevine, and a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard University for her newspaper writing.
A frequent speaker, teacher, and essayist, Macy has been published in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Oprah Magazine, and Parade.
Her upcoming book, Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Drug Crisis (August 2022), focuses on solutions to the opioid crisis and the heroic efforts of frontline workers applying harm reduction practices on the streets of America.
Macy was a reporter for The Roanoke Times from 1989 to 2014. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and her master’s degree in creative writing from Hollins University.
The Ferrum College commencement ceremony honoring the class of 2022 will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2022, in Adams Stadium on campus. For more information, click here.
