ALUMNI PROFILE
Arledge Receives Lifetime Achievement Emmy

Roone Arledge '52 is congratulated by Dean Austin Quigley at the 1998 Alexander Hamilton Dinner as Diane Sawyer of ABC News looks on. PHOTO: JOE PINIERO

Roone Arledge ’52, the television innovator who headed ABC News and ABC Sports, received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on September 10. The award was presented by Barbara Walters, one of the stars Arledge brought to ABC News.

As head of ABC Sports from 1968–1986, Arledge is widely regarded as having changed the face of TV sports with his creative leadership of the network’s Olympic coverage and his introduction of technical innovations such as slow motion and instant replays. He later made his mark at ABC News with shows such as ABC World News Tonight With Peter Jennings, This Week With David Brinkley and Nightline, the first late-evening news program. Arledge, a Columbia trustee since 1999, is the benefactor of the Roone Arledge Auditorium and Cinema in Alfred Lerner Hall. He received the Alexander Hamilton Medal, the College Alumni Association’s highest honor, in 1998.