TV producer to receive Light on the Hill award Friday

In the second ceremony honoring a Light on the Hill award recipient this year, Emmy-award winning television producer Rob Burnett (LA '84) will be honored this Friday.

Although Burnett and NBC News President Neal Shapiro (LA '80) were named the recipients of the 2001-2002 award last spring, Burnett was unable to come to campus until now.

The Light on the Hill award is traditionally given to only one Tufts alumnus each fall in recognition of his or her professional achievements and contributions to the Tufts community. The Tufts Community Union Senate, however, felt it was appropriate to give two awards last year in honor of Tufts' 150th anniversary.

Burnett will speak to members of the Tufts community and answer questions at Friday's event, which is sponsored by the offices of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the Dean of Engineering. Burnett "wants as many people to come as possible and ask him questions," TCU President Melissa Carson said. "He's very excited."

An active member of the Alumni Advisory Board of the Communications and Media Studies Program, Burnett is President and CEO of Worldwide Pants Corporation, which produces the Late Show with David Letterman, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Ed. He has arranged internships at his TV programs for a number of Tufts students, and even hired one recent Tufts graduate as a segment producer for Letterman.

Burnett is the epitome of what a Light on the Hill recipient should be, Carson said. "He's an alum who's actually stayed in involved at Tufts." According to Carson, he exemplifies the "Jumbo for life" idea.

Former TCU President Eric Greenberg worked with former TCU senator Bill McCarthy and TCU senator Rachel Marx to choose last year's recipients. Carson plans to begin searching for candidates for this year's award in December and to select the recipient by February. Winners typically visit campus during the fall semester to accept their awards, but the ceremonies have occasionally taken place in the spring when recipients have been selected later in the year.

Burnett has won numerous Emmy awards for his work on Letterman, where he began as an intern in 1985. He became a writer for the show in 1988 and has been its producer since 1996. Worldwide Pants oversees the other recent Emmy-award-winning shows, including Everybody Loves Raymond and the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.

NBC sitcom Ed premiered in the fall of 2000 and is now in its third season. Parts of the show are based on Burnett's experiences at Tufts, and it has made a number of references to the University, Burnett said. The show's bowling alley employee character Kenny graduated from Tufts, while the Stuckeyville high school teacher Molly worked at Espresso's in college. The show's characters often wear brown and blue.

Earlier this year, Ed was honored with a People's Choice Award for Favorite New Comedy. In addition, series star Tom 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.

While at Tufts, Burnett taught an Ex-College course on "Twentieth Century Humor." It is rumored to be one of the most popular courses ever taught at the Ex-College.

Shapiro spoke on campus last spring upon receiving the award and participated in a discussion held by the Communications and Media Studies Program. He spoke on the changes in the media since Sept. 11 and fielded questions from students.

Previous Light on the Hill award recipients include actor-comedian Hank Azaria (LA '85), eBay entrepreneurs Pierre (LA '89) and Pam Omidyar (LA '90), Former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson (LA '70, F '71), New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. (LA '74), and NASA astronaut Rick Hauck (LA '62).

The ceremony will be on Friday at 11:15 a.m. in Cabot Auditorium.