Lynn Sherr, nominated to be Iowa State’s fall 2006 Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics, will give a lecture, “Outside the Box: Women, Politics and Media,” in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Sherr is a Wellesley graduate and trustee, an author and a national correspondent for ABC News.

Her award-winning stories and reports focus on women’s issues and social change.

Sherr is a trailblazer for women in politics, society and the media, which is what she will be discussing in her lecture.

The Emmy-winning journalist has many accolades, including two American Women in Radio and Television Commendation Awards and the 1994 George Foster Peabody Award and the Santa Clara County Psychological Association Award, both for her report on alternative treatments for anorexia.

“She is truly a pioneer. As one of the first women broadcasters, her experience has covered women’s issues and politics, which we considered to be interesting given the political year. At the end of the lecture, we will ask her to analyze the results of the midterm election,” said Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.

Copies of Sherr’s books will be available at the lecture for a book signing, Bystrom said.

“Reporting the news on television can be glamorous and it can be frustrating; it can be energizing and debilitating; it can puff up the ego and it can make you feel like a dope. And every now and then, it can be really satisfying, because you straighten out the facts or catch someone lying or maybe, just maybe, save a life,” Sherr said about her career in journalism in her most recent book, “Outside the Box: A Memoir.”