NBC News President and Neal Shapiro (LA '80) and Emmy-Award winning CBS producer Rob Burnett (LA '84) will both be given year's "Light on the Hill" award at a ceremony on April 11.
Though Burnett will not be able to accept the award in person until next semester, Shapiro is slated travel to Tufts from his California for the event.
The "Light on the Hill" award, sponsored by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, recognizes Tufts alumni who have achieved outstanding distinction through their work after Tufts.
TCU President Eric Greenberg worked with Senators Bill McCarthy and Rachel Marx to select the recipients. According to Greenberg, who had the final say in the selection, he decided it was appropriate to give the award to two people in honor of Tufts' 150th anniversary.
"We felt they were both high caliber," he said.
Shapiro's visit next Thursday will be in conjunction with a Communication and Media Studies lecture where he is expected to speak about the media since Sept. 11.
The "Light on the Hill" award ceremony is typically held in the fall, but has occasionally been held in the spring. In 1998, an award ceremony was held in March.
Past recipients of the award include eBay founders and philanthropists Pierre (LA '89) and Pam (LA '90) Omidyar, actor-comedian Hank Azaria (LA '85), Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzburger Jr., and NASA astronaut Rick Hauck.
Shapiro was appointed president of NBC News, the most-watched news organization in the world, in June 2001. He also oversees the cable news channel MSNBC. Before serving as president, he worked as the executive producer of the Emmy Award winning Dateline.
He has produced ABC's PrimeTime Live newsmagazine, Nightline, and worked in the company's Chicago bureau. A former Observer editor-in-chief, Shapiro graduated magna cum laude with degrees in history and political science.
Shapiro has retained close ties to Tufts since his graduation, and he is currently chairman of the Communications and Media Studies Alumni Advisory Board.
Rob Burnett has produced CBS's Late Show with David Letterman since 1996. Additionally, he serves as president and CEO of Worldwide Pants, Letterman's production company, and oversees CBS's Everybody Loves Raymond and The Late Late show with Craig Kilborn. He oversees NBC's Ed, which has featured allusions to Tufts in the past.
Burnett has won numerous Emmy Awards for his work on the Late Show. He joined the show as an intern in 1985, and became a writer for the show in 1988. A former varsity soccer player, Burnett graduated Tufts with a degree in English.
NBC's Ed was honored with a People's Choice Award as Favorite New Comedy earlier this year. In addition, series star Cavanagh won the TV Guide Award as Actor of the Year in a New Series. The series also recently received three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing, Directing and Casting for a Comedy Series.
