Friday, January 14, 2011 2:56 pm

Stein joins list of international and national figures to keynote MSU Presidential Lecture Series

MURRAY, Ky. — The 2011 Murray State University Presidential Lecture Series features Ben Stein – actor, author, economist and pop culture icon.

Stein’s visit to Murray is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m., in Murray State’s Lovett Auditorium. The lecture is free and MSU students, faculty and staff, as well the general public are encouraged to attend.

With an extensive filmography and numerous TV credits, Stein is perhaps most recognized as the host of Comedy Central’s quirky game show, Win Ben Stein’s Money, and as the economics teacher in the classic skipping school movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Stein graduated from Columbia University in 1966 with honors in economics, and from Yale Law School in 1970 as valedictorian of his class. He also studied in the graduate school of economics at Yale.

He has worked as an economist at the Department of Commerce, a poverty lawyer in New Haven and Washington, D.C., and as a trial lawyer in the field of trade regulation at the Federal Trade Commission.

Stein has taught at American University in Washington, D.C., the University of California-Santa Cruz and Pepperdine in the subjects of political and social content of mass culture, political and civil rights under the Constitution, libel and securities law, and ethical issues.

In 1973-74, he was a speechwriter and lawyer for Richard Nixon at The White House and then for Gerald Ford. (He did not write the famous line, “I am not a crook.”)

Stein’s media work includes columnist and editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal, a syndicated columnist for The Los Angeles Herald Examiner and King Features Syndicate, and a frequent contributor to Barrons, where his articles about the ethics of management buyouts and issues of fraud in the Milken Drexel junk bond scheme drew major national attention.

He has been a regular columnist for Los Angeles Magazine, New York Magazine, E! Online, and has written a lengthy diary for 20 years for The American Spectator. He currently writes a column for The New York Times Sunday Business Section and for Yahoo, and is a commentator for CBS Sunday Morning and Fox News.

He has written, co-written and published 30 books, including both novels and nonfiction. Stein pioneered uncovering the concealed messages of television. His titles include A License to Steal, Michael Milken and the Conspiracy to Bilk the Nation, The View From Sunset Boulevard and Financial Passages.

His most recent books are the bestselling humor self help series, How To Ruin Your Life. He has written numerous scripts and was one of the creators of the well-regarded 1970s comedy, Fernwood Tonight.

Stein’s work in movies, television and commercials has garnered him legions of fans. His part of the boring teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was recently ranked as one of the 50 most famous scenes in American film. Win Ben Stein’s Money won seven Emmy awards. 

He lives with his wife, Alexandra Denman, who is a former lawyer, and their six cats and three dogs in Beverly Hills. He is active in pro-animal and pro-life charitable events.

The Presidential Lecture Series is sponsored by the MSU president’s office, the MSU Foundation and MSU’s Student Government Association.

Former keynote speakers in Murray State’s prestigious Presidential Lecture Series include Desmond Tutu,

Richard Norton Smith, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Benazir Bhutto, Lech Walesa and F.W. deKlerk.