Date: April 30, 1999
Contact: Jennifer Mullen, 757-683-3580, [email protected]
ABC News Veteran Sam Donaldson To Speak at May Commencement
NORFOLK--Sam Donaldson, a 30-year news veteran and chief White House correspondent for ABC News, will receive an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree degree and address graduates at Old Dominion University
Ãs spring 1999 commencement ceremony, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 8, at Norfolk Scope Convention Center.
As chief White House correspondent, Donaldson covers the White House for ìWorld News Tonightî and other ABC programs. In addition, he has been co-anchor with Diane Sawyer of ìPrime Time Liveî since the programÃs inception in 1989 and is co-anchor with Cokie Roberts of the Sunday morning broadcast ìThis Week With Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts.î
During his career, Donaldson has covered breaking news events and conducted scores of timely interviews with newsmakers, including then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton, President George Bush, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, New York Governor Mario Cuomo, Colin Powell, Norman Schwarzkopf and Don King, among others.
Since joining ABC News in 1967 as Capitol Hill correspondent, Donaldson has covered many historic news events, including the Vietnam War, Watergate and the House Judiciary Committee 1974 impeachment investigation. In addition, he has investigated the Russian space station Mir, TWA Flight 800, steroid use by Chinese Olympic swimmers and the rape of a teenage girl in Okinawa by three U.S. servicemen.
He has covered every national political convention since 1964 with the exception of the 1992 Republican Convention in Houston. DonaldsonÃs 1987 autobiography, ìHold On, Mr. President,î was an international bestseller. Donaldson received the ìBroadcaster of the Yearî award from the National Press Foundation in 1998, three Emmy Awards and a George Foster Peabody Award. The Washington Journalism Review named him the Best Television White House Correspondent in the Business in 1985, and the Best Television Correspondent in the Business in 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989.
Born in El Paso, Texas, Donaldson received a bachelorÃs degree from Texas Western College and did graduate work at the University of Southern California. He began his broadcasting career at KRLD-TV in Dallas and moved to WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C., before joining ABC News.
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Old Dominion University
Office of University Relations
Room 100 Koch Hall
Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0018
Telephone 757-683-3114
Old Dominion University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.
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