Veteran sports broadcaster Lesley Visser has been named this year's winner of the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence.

Lesley Visser got her start with the Boston Globe in 1974 and now works for CBS. She has accomplished many firsts for female sports broadcasters and is the only sportscaster to work on network broadcasts of the Final Four, World Series, NBA Finals, Super Bowl, Olympics, Triple Crown, World Figure Skating Championship and U.S. Open.

The Al Neuharth Award is presented by the University of South Dakota and the Freedom Forum Institute, a nonpartisan foundation that champions the First Amendment. The award is named after the founder of USA Today, the Freedom Forum and the Newseum.

Visser is the 32nd recipient and second sports broadcaster to receive the Neuharth award. Past award winners include Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, Larry King, Katie Couric and Chris Berman.

The public is invited to “A Conversation with Lesley Visser,” an informative conversation between Visser and Gene Policinski, president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute. This free event will take place from Monday, February 25 at 6:00 PM in the Freedom Forum Conference Room located in the Al Neuharth Media Center.

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