Investigative journalist and television host Hugh Downs will address the graduates of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at their convocation ceremony on May 15.
Downs will give the convocation speech to 2,991 spring and summer graduates in separate ceremonies.
“We do believe this is the first time Mr. Downs will be speaking at the college as a commencement speaker,” said Carol Hughes, director of media relations for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
CLAS Dean Quentin Wheeler said he and the college are excited and honored to have Downs as the commencement speaker.
“Hugh is a legend in American broadcast television, an intellectual of inordinate accomplishment, an explorer and a long time friend and supporter of the Hugh Downs School [of Human Communication], the college and the University,” Wheeler said. “We are deeply honored to have Mr. Downs address our graduates.”
Downs began his career as a staff announcer at NBC Chicago.
He went on to co-anchor “20/20” and be an announcer for “The Tonight Show.” His career has spanned 50 years.
He has also written 12 books and worked with the Phoenix Symphony and many organizations and charities in the Phoenix metropolitan area and resides in Arizona.
Downs has been involved with ASU students and faculty by volunteering to guest lecture each semester for undergraduate and graduate courses.
In 2002, the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was named in Downs’ honor.
Professor H.L. “Bud” Goodall Jr., director of the communication school, said Downs is a living icon among those in his field.
“We are inspired by his intellectual curiosity, as well as his many accomplishments as a communicator,” Goodall said in a statement from ASU News.
In the past, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences had only one convocation ceremony, but this year two will take place in one day, Wheeler said.
“The college has simply become very large to where we needed to do something about it when it came to the convocation ceremony,” he said.
Rather than move the ceremony to a larger space such as Sun Devil Stadium, the ceremony will remain at Wells Fargo Arena but will be split into two ceremonies by program, Wheeler said.
“[Downs] will be present and speaking at both,” he said.
Reach the reporter at brianna.mattox@asu.edu.
