MIT World Speakers

Tom Brokaw

Tom Brokaw stepped down as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News on December 1, 2004, after 21 years on the broadcast. From 1976 to 1981, he anchored Today on NBC. Brokaw secured the first exclusive U.S. one-on-one interview with Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, in 1987, earning him an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. He was the only anchor to report from the scene the night the Berlin Wall fell, and was the first American anchor to travel to Tibet to report on human-rights abuses and to conduct an interview with the Dalai Lama.

Brokaw’s documentary reporting has been recognized with numerous awards, including two Peabody Awards and an Emmy. Brokaw continues to work with NBC News, reporting and producing documentaries and providing expertise during breaking news events.

He is the author of four bestsellers: The Greatest Generation, The Greatest Generation Speaks, An Album of Memories, and A Long Way from Home. His most recent book is Boom! Voices of the Sixties.