Visser will speak as part of the “I Am Ali” Festival
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (May 23, 2017) — The Muhammad Ali Center is proud to announce its upcoming Daughters of Greatness presenter: Lesley Visser. Visser will speak at the Center on Thursday, June 15th as part of the “I Am Ali” Festival. This festival is a community-wide celebration of the life and legacy of Muhammad Ali from June 3 – July 15, 2017.
Lesley Visser is the most highly acclaimed female sportscaster of all time. She is the first and only woman in the Pro Football Hall of Fame; the only female sportscaster to have carried the Olympic Torch; the only woman to have presented the championship Lombardi Trophy at the Super Bowl; the first woman on the network broadcasts of the Final Four, the Super Bowl, the NBA finals and the Final Four. She was voted the Outstanding Female Sportscaster of all Time by the National Sportscasters of America, and was also elected to the Sportswriters Hall of Fame for her work at the Boston Globe, national magazines and CBS.com.
Visser was the first and only woman to win the Billie Jean King “Outstanding Journalist” award, was honored as the first woman Lombardi Fellow, named a Sports Business Journal “Champion” and was also elected to the Sports Museum of Boston. A graduate of Boston College, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2007, she has been on the board of the V Foundation for Cancer Research for more than 20 years, while also serving on the board of NYU’s “Sports and Society”. Visser has mentored young women for decades, while speaking at colleges and businesses around the world.
A sportscaster at CBS for more than 25 years, she spent nearly ten years at ABC Sports, where she became the first woman on “Monday Night Football”, while also covering the World Series, World Figure Skating, World Skiing Championships, and the Triple Crown. She has been voted one of the “Women We Love” by Esquire magazine and one of “the Five Ideal Dinner Guests” by GQ. She and her husband, Bob Kanuth, a former captain of Harvard Basketball, live in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida.
Seating is limited. Tickets are $20 for Ali Center members, $25 for non-members, $15 for students. Tables of 8 and 10 are also available. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available here or by contacting Erin Herbert at eherbert@alicenter.org.
About the Muhammad Ali Center
The Muhammad Ali Center, a 501(c)3 corporation, was co-founded by Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The international cultural center promotes the Six Core Principles of Muhammad Ali (Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, Respect, and Spirituality) in ways that inspire personal and global greatness and provides programming and events around the focus areas of education, gender equity, and global citizenship. Its newest initiative, Generation Ali, fosters a new generation of leaders to contribute positively to their communities and to change the world for the better. The Center’s headquarters also contains an award-winning museum experience. For more information, please visit www.alicenter.org.
# # #
Contact: Jeanie Kahnke
Muhammad Ali Center
(502) 992-5301