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Tom Brokaw has covered every presidential election since 1968 and was NBC's White House correspondent during the national trauma of Watergate. From 1984 through this presidential election cycle, Brokaw will have anchored all of NBC's political coverage, including primaries, national conventions, and election nights. He has an impressive series of additional "firsts," including the first exclusive U.S. one-on-one interview with Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, and he was the first and only anchor to report from the scene the night the Berlin Wall fell.
Brokaw began his journalism career in 1962 at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska. He anchored the late evening news on Atlanta's WSB-TV in 1965 before joining KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. He was hired by NBC News in 1966, and from 1976–1981 he anchored NBC News' Today program. On December 1, 2004, Brokaw stepped down after 21 years as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, but he continues with NBC News, reporting and producing long-form documentaries and providing expertise during breaking news events. In December 2005, in one of the first documentaries of its kind, Brokaw received wide acclaim by critics for Tom Brokaw Reports: To War and Back.
Brokaw's insight, ability, and integrity have earned him numerous awards for his journalistic achievements, including several Emmy, Overseas Press Club, and National Headliner awards. In 1989, Brokaw was awarded his first Peabody award for To Be An American, a documentary about the American tapestry: who we are, how we got here, and what it means to become a new citizen. In 2003, NBC Nightly News was honored with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast. Complementing his distinguished broadcast journalism career, Brokaw has written articles, essays, and commentary for several publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, Sports Illustrated, Life, and National Geographic. In 1998, Brokaw became a best-selling author with the publication of The Greatest Generation. His most recent book (November 2007) is titled Boom- Personal Reflections on the 60’s and Today.
Charlie Cook is widely regarded as one of the nation’s keenest litmus testers on U.S. elections and political trends. The New York Times has called Cook “...one of the best political handicappers in the nation.” He is the publisher of The Cook Political Report and a political analyst for the National Journal Group, where he writes weekly for National Journal magazine and CongressDailyAM. He also writes a regular column for the Washington Quarterly, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and is a political analyst for NBC News. Before joining the National Journal Group in 1998, Cook wrote a twice-weekly column in Roll Call, Capitol Hill’s premier newspaper. Charlie has also served as an election night analyst for CBS and for NBC. Using his encyclopedic knowledge of American politics, Cook provides timely information about the changing political climate, the upcoming presidential election, and perceptive commentaries on policymaking in Washington. He has been featured on Good Morning America,the Today show, Nightline, Meet the Press with Tim Russert,and This Week.
Billy Crystal has created one of the most versatile and prolific careers in the entertainment industry, finding success in front of the camera, as a performer, and behind the scenes as a writer, director, and producer. His family owned and operated the legendary Commodore label and record store, so Crystal grew up in New York surrounded by music and musicians. His father produced concerts by the era’s great jazz performers, and it was his exposure to these great stars that helped Crystal developed a knack for stand-up comedy, incorporating his gifts for mimicry and satire, as well as his ability to create enduring characters who are funny, human, and touching.
After touring with stars such as Billy Joel and Barry Manilow, he became a regular on the popular TV series Soap. During the 1984-85 TV season, Crystal met with phenomenal national success on Saturday Night Live, creating many memorable characters and the classic catchphrase "You look mahvelous!" He has hosted the Grammy Awards three times and the Oscars seven times, as well as starring in numerous films such as When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers I and II. Crystal’s HBO film 61* showcased him as both director and executive producer and garnered multiple Emmy nominations. A dedicated human rights advocate, he has co-hosted all eight Comic Relief telethons on HBO which have raised more than $40 million for housing and medical care for the nation’s homeless. Crystal has won six Emmy Awards, six American Comedy Awards, and seven Cable Ace Awards. His professional accomplishments abound, but Crystal considers his greatest achievements are his 31-year marriage to his wife Janice, and his two daughters, Jennifer and Lindsay.
Stan Hull is Senior Vice President for the US Pharmaceuticals-RTP Business Division of GlaxoSmithKline. His responsibilities include leading the sales and marketing efforts of the business division in the commercialization of prescription medicines as well as to represent the company in external activities. Hull has been in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 29 years and with GlaxoSmithKline since 1987. He has served in a number of sales and marketing roles. Prior to his current position, he served in the R&D organization of GlaxoSmithKline as Vice President and Worldwide Director of Therapeutic Development and Product Strategy-Neurology and Psychiatry. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Marketing-Infectious Diseases and Gastroenterology for Glaxo Wellcome Inc.
Stan is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has served on a variety of external committees designed to further education in the sciences. He currently serves as a Director on the Board of the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine Foundation. In addition, he also serves as a board member for the Health Sector Advisory Council of Duke University.
Ashley A. McEvoy is president of McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a Johnson & Johnson affiliate based in Fort Washington, PA. She has worldwide responsibility for the strategic direction of the company’s upper respiratory, pain, and gastro-intestinal franchises, and heads the over-the-counter (OTC) business in the U.S. McEvoy joined McNeil in 1996 as an assistant brand manager for Tylenol and Nicotrol. By 2003, as vice president of marketing, she drove the OTC business for McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals. She was appointed general manager of McNeil Consumer Healthcare in 2005 and maintained responsibility for the OTC business unit that comprises sales, project management, business strategy and insights, and strategic marketing. McEvoy recently oversaw McNeil Consumer Healthcare’s January 2008 switch of Zyrtec, the No. 1 prescribed allergy medicine in the U.S., and Zyrtec-D 12-Hour to OTC status.
In 2005, Advertising Age rated McEvoy among the top 50 marketers. A frequent guest speaker on the American Marketing Association’s circuit, she is a member of the Target Corporation Health & Beauty Aid Steering Committee and the New York American Marketing Association EFFIE Awards Judging Committee. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, as well as its board of directors. McEvoy received her B.A. in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson.
Emmy award winning journalist Charlie Rose has been praised as “one of America’s premiere interviewers.” He is the host of Charlie Rose, the nightly PBS program that engages America’s best thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, business leaders, scientists, and other newsmakers. His round oak table, perhaps the most recognized table on television, and the black backdrop provide an intimate atmosphere for showcasing smart conversation. Guests have ranged from international statesmen Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev to Nobel laureates Toni Morrison and Seamus Heaney to leaders in business like Bill Gates and Andy Grove. In the artistic arena, Rose’s guests range from actors Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts to musicians Bruce Springstein and Yo-Yo Ma. His series “Great Masters” takes an in-depth look at an artist’s biography as well as the artist’s visual presentations of their art. Rose is also a correspondent for 60 Minutes II, the CBS news magazine program, and is known for his major profiles on cutting-edge subjects like Lou Gehrig’s disease, suicide, and gene therapy. He was born in Henderson, NC, and graduated from Duke University with an AB in history and a JD from the School of Law. Rose is the recipient of the George Peabody Broadcasting Award, the Emmy Award, and The CableACE Award.
Elizabeth Somer, M.A., is a registered dietitian who has carved a unique professional niche as a dietitian well-versed in nutrition research. For the past 27 years, she has kept abreast of the current research, packaging that information into her newsletter Nutrition Alert, easy-to-read books, magazine articles, lectures, continuing education seminars, spokesperson projects, and practical news for the media. Somer is a frequent guest on NBC’s Today show and was Nutrition Correspondent for NBC’s Later Today from 1999 to 2000 and for ABC’s Good Morning America from 1996 to 1999. She appears regularly on other national television programs, and her one-hour special on “Age-Proof Your Body” aired nationwide on Public Television in 2001.
She is the author of several books, including her most recent two – Age-Proof Your Body and 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet. She is a Contributing Editor to Shape Magazine and Healing Lifestyles, and has written more than 300 articles in national magazines. Somer received her Bachelor’s degree in Foods and Nutrition from Oregon State University and her Master’s degree in Community Health from Ohio State University. She currently teaches nutrition at Willamette University in Salem, OR.