distinguished alumni award
Tom Brokaw
Friend 1997
Tom Brokaw, anchorman and managing editor
of "NBC Nightly News," only attended the University of Iowa for one
year, but he is a loyal and generous alumnus of the institution.
After graduating from the University of South Dakota (USD), Brokaw
enjoyed a swift rise to prominence in his field of broadcast news.
Following positions as a news editor in Omaha and Atlanta, Brokaw became
a reporter, correspondent, and anchorman at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles
in 1966. From there he progressed to White House correspondent and
anchorman of NBC's "Saturday Night News" in 1973. He hosted NBC's "Today" show
from 1976 until he achieved his current position in 1982.
As correspondent for NBC, Brokaw covered the US presidential elections
in 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980, and he anchored the network's coverage
of the 1984,1988, and 1992 presidential campaigns. His coverage of
world-changing events such as China's Tiananmen Square massacre and
the destruction of the Berlin Wall has earned critical acclaim.
Brokaw has received numerous awards for excellence in his profession,
including an Emmy Award for his coverage of the Romanian revolution.
He received the Alfred I. DuPont Award in 1987 for "A Conversation
with Mikhail S. Gorbachev" and the George Foster Peabody Award for "To
Be an American."
Besides his bachelor's degree in political science from the USD, Brokaw
has earned honorary degrees from many institutions, including the University
of Notre Dame, Washington University, Syracuse University, Boston College,
and Duke University. Currently, he serves as an adviser to the Howard
University School of Communications.
But Brokaw's ties to the University of Iowa remain strong. He has
generously shared his time and professional abilities with the school
on a number of occasions. Brokaw served as a Steering Committee member
for the UI Foundation's Iowa Endowment 2000 Campaign and has met with
and addressed the Foundation's board of directors a number of times
in recent years. He provided the voice-over narration for a Hawkeye
football highlights video in 1991, and one year later, he delivered
a Distinguished Alumni Lecture entitled "America's Challenge: Preparing
for the Millennium." Most recently, Brokaw narrated the "Portrait of
Iowa" documentary.
During a visit to the UI a few years ago, Brokaw noted, "I love coming
back to Iowa, and the University of Iowa especially, because the institution
reflects what we have to offer the world." Brokaw's relationship with
the UI has shown what he has to offer: a keen intelligence, superb
professional abilities, and a caring and charitable nature.
A very generous
contributor to many areas of the university and a member of the Foundation's
Presidents Club, Brokaw contributed high-level
support for the Iowa Endowment 2000 Campaign, the Student Aid Fund,
and the UI Foundation Vitality Fund, which provides unrestricted
support for the Foundation's operations and activities.
The UI Alumni Association
selected Tom Brokaw to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award in
1996.
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