One of America's premier investigative journalists, Seymour Hersh shocked the world with his expose of the military's treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. His revelation of the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. He writes regulary for The New Yorker on military and security matters and is the author of many books.

The 9th Annual Mario Savio Memorial Lecture & Young Activist Award is presented annually to honor the memory of Mario Savio (1942-1996), spokesperson for Berkeley's Free Speech Movement of 1964, and the spirit of moral courage and vision which he and countless other activists of his generation exemplified; to promote the ideals and values he struggled to advance throughout his life; and recognize and encourage young activists to build a more humane and just society.