OXFORD, Miss. – Tom Brokaw, one of the most trusted and respected figures in broadcast journalism, is slated to return to the University of Mississippi this month as a guest lecturer.
The longtime “NBC Nightly News” anchor plans to examine society in a high-tech world during a public address April 22. The lecture, titled “Life is Not a Virtual Experience – Citizenship Beyond the Keyboard,” is set for 7:30 p.m. in Fulton Chapel. It is free and open to the public.
Named a UM Sally McDonnell Barksdale Fellow, Brokaw also will serve as a guest lecturer during the week for an honors college journalism course being taught by Curtis Wilkie, UM’s Cook Chair of Journalism. Brokaw has lectured at Ole Miss several times, including the night before the 2008 presidential debate and last spring.
“Tom is a thoughtful, smart, informed man with a half-century of experience in high-pressure situations in journalism who can relate to a general audience,” Wilkie said. “That’s what he did on NBC for most of his career.”
The opportunity to hear from one of America’s news icons offers students a unique perspective, said Douglass Sullivan-Gonzalez, dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.
“Our students are not simply spectators in education,” he said. “They are participants, and this allows them to learn from a person who has helped shape American history.”
Wilkie, who met Brokaw during the 1976 presidential campaign, agreed, saying the college experience offers more than just academic studies. He recalled historian Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr.’s address on campus and how his remarks impacted Wilkie’s views and opinions on the Vietnam War.
“I go back to my own years here at Ole Miss 50 years ago, and how impressed I was at some of the guest speakers,” Wilkie said. “That’s why I encourage my students to attend these lectures.”
In 2004, Brokaw stepped down after 21 years as the anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News.” He has received numerous honors, including the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award and the Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and he was inducted as a fellow into the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Brokaw began his journalism career in 1962 at KMTV in Omaha, Neb. He anchored the late evening news on Atlanta’s WSB-TV in 1965 before joining KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. Brokaw was hired by NBC News in 1966, and from 1976 to 1981 he anchored NBC News’ “Today” program.
For more information on the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, visit http://www.honors.olemiss.edu.