Well-known journalist and author Tom Brokaw will deliver this year’s Dole Lecture, the Dole Institute of Politics announced Friday.

This will be Brokaw’s first trip back to Lawrence since he served as emcee for the dedication of the institute in 2003.

“We had been in touch with him about making another visit,” Dole Institute interim director Jonathan Earle said. “This time, the stars just aligned.”

The lecture will be at 1 p.m. April 10. Unlike some previous Dole lectures, this one will be delivered at the Institute, rather than at the nearby Lied Center, which was booked.

“It’s an awkward time because people have to work for a living,” Earle said. “We’re trying to fit into his schedule.”

While seating undoubtedly will be tight and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis, Earle said it was appropriate that the event be held at the Dole Institute.

He also was pleased with Brokaw as a choice, particularly because Brokaw is a nonpartisan figure in a very partisan election year.

“The country is hyper-partisan right now,” Earle said. “We were looking for someone who’s above politics. What if we had a speaker who’s endorsed a candidate and that became the focus? That’s not what the Dole Institute is about.”

Earle said Lawrence resident Scottie Lingelbach, a veteran of World War II who with her husband was featured in Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation,” was instrumental in convincing Brokaw to make the return trip.

“I’ve worked hard to get him here. He said I’ll come if Scottie will make me some more biscotti,” Lingelbach said Friday. “And I did that yesterday.”

Brokaw and Lingelbach have stayed in touch through the years since Brokaw’s book was published. She was his guest at the dedication of the National World War II memorial in 2004.

“He’s such a nice man. It’s so wonderful that he can be friends with me,” Lingelbach said. “He sends me a lovely box of all sorts of products made with Bing cherries every Christmas.”

Lingelbach was also instrumental in bringing Gen. Richard Myers to campus for last year’s Dole Lecture.

While Brokaw’s time in Lawrence is expected to be very short, Lingelbach said she hopes to have a chance to show him around campus. She said Brokaw, a Duke fan, would love the chance to meet basketball coach Bill Self and see the KU basketball office.

Others who have given the Dole Lecture include Myers, former Sen. Tom Daschle, former President Bill Clinton and former Sen. Bob Dole.

The Dole Institute will open at 9 a.m. April 10 and people can arrive then to get seats if they choose.