News

Broadcasting icon Walter Cronkite has been selected as the featured speaker for Portland State University's annual Simon Benson Awards dinner, presented by Wells Fargo.

In its sixth year, the Simon Benson Awards dinner is Portland's premiere philanthropic event, celebrating Oregon residents who are advocates for philanthropy. Named after one of Oregon's first philanthropists, the award recognizes individuals in the community who are visionaries and have generously given time and/or money to support the lives of generations of Oregonians.

This year's gala event will be held at the Oregon Convention Center (777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) on October 6 and includes a reception, dinner and entertainment. The reception starts at 6 p.m. and dinner begins at 7 p.m. Tickets and tables are now available to the public; call Leslie Grasa (503-725-8212) for more information. Over 1,000 people are expected to attend.

"Portland State is bringing the perfect person to comment on current events during an intense and complex election year. Cronkite speaks from decades of experience—his words are sure to enlighten and inspire the audience," said Keren Brown Wilson, Event Committee Chair.

Walter Cronkite, affectionately nicknamed "Old Iron Pants" for his unflappability under pressure, has covered virtually every major news event during his more than 65 years in journalism—the last 54 affiliated with CBS News. He became a special correspondent for CBS News when he stepped down on March 6, 1981, after 19 years as anchorman and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News."

Cronkite started his career as a United Press correspondent covering World War II. After reporting the German surrender, Cronkite established United Press bureaus in Europe, was named United Press bureau chief in Brussels and covered the Nuremberg trials of Goering, Hess and other top Nazis. From 1946 to 1948 he was chief correspondent for United Press in Moscow. In 1950, Cronkite joined CBS News in Washington as a correspondent and was an anchorman for CBS's political convention and election coverage from 1952 to 1980. He assumed his duties on the "CBS Evening News" on April 16, 1962, which began as a 15 minute broadcast. On September 2, 1963, it debuted as network television's first half-hour, weeknight news broadcast with Cronkite's headline-making interview with President John F. Kennedy.

Cronkite was the only journalist to be voted among the top ten "most influential decision-makers in America" in surveys conducted by U.S. News & World Report and also was named the most influential person in broadcasting. In a nationwide viewer opinion survey conducted as recently as 1995, more than a decade after leaving the CBS anchor desk, he again was voted Most Trusted Man in Television News.

Cronkite is the author of South by Southeast (Oxmoor House, 1983), North by Northeast (Oxmoor House, 1986), Westwind (Oxmoor House, 1990), Around America (W.W. Norton & Company, 2002) and Eye on the World (Cowles, 1971). In addition to his ongoing assignments as a special correspondent for CBS, Cronkite maintains a demanding international lecture and public appearance schedule and also hosts many public affairs and cultural programs. In 1993 he co-founded The Cronkite Ward Company, which has produced more than 100 award-winning documentary hours for The Discovery Channel, PBS and other networks. He currently writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column appearing in more than 165 newspapers throughout the country.

A high-resolution photograph can be downloaded at www.marketing.pdx.edu/newsreleases/Walter_Cronkite.jpg

Simon Benson Award speakers and recipients:
1999 Speaker: Colin Powell Recipients: Paul Bragdon, Jean Vollum
2000 Speaker: Mario Cuomo Recipients: Mary and Maurie Clark, Don Frisbee
2001 Speaker: Bob Dole Recipients: Peter and Julie Stott, Duncan and Cindy Campbell
2002 Speaker: Rudolph Giuliani Recipients: Jeannine B. Cowles, Ernest C. Swigert
2003 Speaker: Madeleine Albright Recipients: Elizabeth H. Johnson, James F. Miller
2004 Speaker: Walter Cronkite Recipients: Not Yet Announced

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Sources:
Leslie Grasa (503-725-8212)
PSU University Relations

Release Number: 04-017