Trivia

He studied journalism at Northwestern University, where he received a bachelor's and a master's degree.

He spent 20 years at NBC and was executive producer of the "NBC Nightly News", before becoming president of the news division. After a corporate shake-up, he eventually went to PBS, where he became executive producer of "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report," a half-hour program that aired one in-depth story every night. Within a year, he spearheaded the expansion to a one-hour newscast, renamed "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour", that was a first for American TV. It usually included three extensive looks at major news topics, along with arts and science stories rarely seen on commercial networks.