Bryant Gumbel

Bryant Gumbel Profile

Best known for his 15-year tenure on NBC’s Today Show, Bryant Gumbel’s flair for television journalism and his talent for developing intriguing stories on a variety of topics made
him a news legend. Today he can be on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, an investigative show that digs into ethical controversies, social issues, and human struggle underlying the athletic world.

Gumbel has received multiple Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and numerous other honors for his diverse range of stories and interviews. He has reported on almost every topic
imaginable from the Olympics to presidential elections, and has even reported from every continent minus Antarctica. His interview subjects have ranged from Super Bowl champions to
superpower leaders including a landmark 1984 interview with top kremlin leaders that earned him the Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Foreign Affairs work.

Gumbel has been recognized for his contributions to society as he has often developed stories that examine racial or economic inequality or underrepresentation. For orchestrating and
anchoring the broadcasts from Africa, Gumbel was honored with the
International Journalism Award from TransAfrica, the Africa’s Future Award from the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, and the leadership award from the African American Institute. He received the Martin Luther King Award from the Congress of Racial Equality and the college Fund/UNCF. For more the seven years he has raised over three million dollars for UNCF scholarship through the Bryant Gumbel/Walt Disney World golf tournament.
He is active in other philanthropies and has served on the board for United Way and Xavier University.

• View Extended/Alternate Bio
  • CBS Bryant Gumbel joined CBS News on March 13, 1997. Previously, he worked for NBC for nearly 25 years, serving as anchor of its Today show for an unprecedented tenure of 15 years. He also anchored that network′s 1992 presidential election coverage and hosted NBC′s primetime coverage of the 1988 Olympic Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea. He was a contributing anchor for Dateline, NBC News′ primetime magazine.

  Most recently, he anchored Public Eye With Bryant Gumbel, a CBS News magazine, which received two Peabody Awards, an Overseas Press Club Award and an American Women in Radio and Television Award. Gumbel is also the host of HBO′s critically acclaimed Emmy-winning program, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

  Gumbel has compiled a remarkably diverse array of credits. He has interviewed superpower leaders and Super Bowl heroes and has covered foreign wars, elections, international summits, and presidential inaugurations. He has anchored and reported from all corners of the globe, including Europe, China, Australia, Russia, Cuba, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. He covered the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War from Saudi Arabia, the reopening of the arms negotiations from Geneva, and the 10th anniversary of the fall of Saigon from Ho Chi Minh City.

  Gumbel earned an Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Foreign Affairs work from the Overseas Press Club for his interview with top Kremlin officials in September 1984. He also received an Edward Weintal Prize for diplomatic reporting and a George Foster Peabody Award for his reporting in Vietnam.

  In addition, Gumbel has received three Emmy Awards; the United Negro College Fund′s highest honor, the Frederick D. Patterson Award; as well as the Martin Luther King Award from the Congress of Racial Equality and three NAACP Image Awards.

  For orchestrating and anchoring the broadcasts from Africa, Gumbel was honored with the International Journalism Award from TransAfrica, the Africa′s Future Award from the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, and the leadership award from the African American Institute.

  Prior to his NBC News assignment, Gumbel worked for NBC Sports (1975-1982). He hosted virtually all of its primary programs and championship events broadcasts, including Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the NCAA basketball tournament. He hosted its coverage of the PGA Tour in 1990.

  Gumbel′s broadcast career began in October 1972 when he was named sportscaster for KNBC-TV Los Angeles.

  Born September 29, 1948, in New Orleans, Gumbel was raised in Chicago. He graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, with a liberal arts degree. He has received honorary doctorates from Bates, Xavier, Holy Cross, Providence College and Clark Atlanta University.

  He serves on the boards of the United Negro College Fund, the United Way of New York City, Xavier University in New Orleans, and his alma mater.

  Gumbel has a son, Bradley Christopher, and a daughter, Jillian Beth.