For Immediate Release: January 4, 2006
NBC NEWS ANCHOR TO BE FEATURED SPEAKER AT UMW’S MARTIN LUTHER KING CELEBRATION
Fredericksburg, Va. – NBC News anchor Jim Vance will be the featured speaker for the University of Mary Washington’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration on Monday, January 16. The event will take place at 4 p.m. in George Washington Hall, Dodd Auditorium and is open to the public without charge.
After the program, there will be a wreath laying at the James Farmer Statue, located just outside George Washington Hall. Dr. Farmer was one of the “Big Four” civil rights leaders and a member of the Mary Washington faculty for 13 years before his death in 1999.
Vance is the anchor of two of Washington’s major evening news broadcasts, NBC NEWS4 at 6 and 11. He frequently anchors from the field on major stories and provides special reports on a wide variety of issues, from as far away as El Salvador, South Africa and Vietnam. Vance also has traveled to Miami, New York, Dallas, San Francisco and Atlanta to co-anchor the station’s coverage of political conventions. With NEWS4 since 1969, Vance started as a general assignment reporter and moved to the anchor desk in 1972.
He began his career in Philadelphia as a reporter for the Philadelphia Independent newspaper and as a part-time reporter for radio station WHAT-AM while also teaching in the public school system. In 1968, he accepted a position as a reporter for WKBS-TV in Philadelphia.
Vance has earned numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including 15 Emmy Awards, induction into the Journalists Hall of Fame and membership in the Silver Circle of the Washington Chapter of the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences. He also holds the Ted Yates Award for outstanding community service and has been honored as a “Washingtonian of the Year.” A native of Ardmore, Pa., Vance holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Cheyney University in Cheyney, Pa.
For more information about the program, contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at (540) 654-1044.
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News release by: Teresa Mannix