Previous speakers at the Dole Institute of Politics have written books on presidential history.

Roger Wilkins helped make presidential history.

As an editorial writer for the Washington Post, Wilkins helped shape popular thought on the Nixon White House after the Watergate scandal. He’ll speak at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

Wilkins, now a professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., shared the 1973 Pulitzer Prize with reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and cartoonist Herb Block.

Wilkins then moved to The New York Times, where he was a columnist and the first black man to sit on the newspaper’s editorial board. He also worked for the Institute for Policy Studies, The Washington Star, National Public Radio and CBS Radio.

Wilkins is known for being outspoken on civil rights and American public policy issues. He is publisher of the NAACP’s journal, the Crisis.

Wilkins’ appearance will be in an interview format, with Richard Norton Smith, the Dole Institute’s director, asking him questions.

The Wilkins event is part of the Dole Forum lecture series, which will feature prominent people in government, politics and media. The first speaker in the series was Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of C-SPAN.

Admission to the speech is free, though advance tickets are required. Tickets are available at the Lied Center, 864-2787; Murphy Hall, 864-3982; and SUA in the Kansas Union, 864-SHOW.

Erik Nelson, associate director of the Dole Institute, said about 80 tickets remained Wednesday afternoon. The auditorium’s capacity is 500 people.