NBC News Anchor Brian Williams PHOTO/PBS.org

NBC anchor Brian Williams is this year’s Commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2007. With a significant message to convey, Williams will bring a fresh perspective to this year’s graduates as they prepare to set out into the world beyond Choate

After over 20 years as a TV news journalist, Williams is now commonly known as one of “the greats” in American broadcasting. He has come a long way, from flipping pancakes to pay for college to succeeding as Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC’s Nightly News.

Since joining NBC News in 1993, Williams has accumulated an impressive list of accomplishments. His reports from 23 countries have earned him five Emmys, four Edward R. Murrow awards, the DuPont-Columbia University award, and the highly-esteemed George Foster Peabody award. He was the only network news anchor to report from New Orleans before the infamous Hurricane Katrina, and to stay during the hurricane to report from the Superdome. He covered the Indonesian tsunami; the recent Iraqi elections; the deaths of Pope John Paul II, Princess Diana, and John F. Kennedy Jr.; Bono’s HIV/AIDS tour in Africa; and every aspect of the war in Iraq.

Williams has been featured in Vanity Fair, G.Q., and Men’s Vogue, and his writing has been printed in Time Magazine, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. No stranger to wit, he has appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Saturday Night Live, the Tonight show with Jay Leno, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Most recently, he was spontaneously pulled onstage to provide background noises for an improvisational skit with two comedians at a White House dinner.

After working in an entry level job under the Carter administration, Williams had his start in broadcasting at a local station, KOAM-TV, in Pittsburgh, Kansas. He followed this with work at several different stations in locations such as Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. It was during his stint at WCBS-TV that Williams was noticed by network executives across the nation. In 1993, he gave live reports of the World Trade Center Bombing from the street. A month later, he began working for NBC.

Since joining NBC, Williams has occupied various roles. He was the NBC News Chief White House Correspondent from 1994-1996, the MSNBC and CNBC Anchor and Managing Editor of The News with Brian Williams, and the six-year Anchor and Managing Editor of Saturday’s Nightly News. He is currently the seventh Anchor of the weekday Nightly News, having succeeded his mentor Tom Brokaw in December 2004.

There is no shortage of excitement on campus from students awaiting Mr. Williams’ arrival. Drew Ruben ‘07, a graduating senior, declared, “Brian Williams is one of the nation’s foremost television anchors and accomplished journalists. He has a lot of insight to share, and I’m really looking forward to his speech.”

This year’s Commencement ceremony will direct a message to the graduating class that ties into Headmaster Shanahan’s remarks during September’s Convocation. Mary Verselli, Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications, explained, “Mr. Shanahan set the tone for the year at Convocation when he shared what he took away from his trip to Central Command and asked students to respond to his call to support our military men and women serving in that region. That type of global perspective is such a hallmark of Choate; we thought it would be fitting to close the year for our sixth formers with a commencement speaker who could also offer a world view. Brian Williams seemed like the perfect choice.”

Headmaster Shanahan says that Williams has been chosen as Choate’s 117th commencement speaker this year because of his sound perspective on events happening both internationally and here at home. The message that Shanahan wishes to give the graduating class is a motivational one. Mr. Shanahan stated, “I want to motivate the students to be engaged, not only in their own personal lives, but also in the lives of others. Mr. Williams is an experienced journalist whose reporting reflects not only what he sees and hears, but also what affects him.” Hopefully Williams will bring the world into the minds of the departing Choate students, as someone whose global encounters have made him aware of the ever-changing world around him.