Lives of Consequence
Bill Whitaker '73, L.H.D. '97
Emmy Award-winning "60 Minutes" correspondent
Whitaker is an Emmy-award-winning correspondent for the renowned news magazine television program “60 Minutes,” where he has reported stories from across the world — from the Syrian refugee crisis to the opioid epidemic to race and policing in America. In 2016, his reporting on the segment “The Swiss Leaks,” about the biggest data breach in Swiss banking history, earned him and his colleagues a 2016 Emmy Award for Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting in a News Magazine.
Before joining “60 Minutes” in 2014, Whitaker served as a CBS News correspondent for 30 years, covering virtually all of the major breaking news events during that time, reporting from the epicenters of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina; the earthquake, tsunami and resulting nuclear incident in Japan; and the earthquake in Haiti. He has served as CBS News' lead correspondent on the Unabomber case, both O.J. Simpson trials, the Columbine school shootings, and the presidential campaigns of 2000 and 2008, among many others. He has covered issues along the U.S. - Mexico border including illegal immigration and the violence stemming from the illegal drug trade. While serving as CBS' Tokyo correspondent, he covered the pro-democracy uprising in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Whitaker began his broadcast journalism career at KQED-TV in San Francisco, Calif., where he held various positions including producer, associate producer and researcher/writer. In 1982, he became a correspondent for WBTV, the CBS affiliate in Charlotte, N.C.
In November 1984, he joined CBS News as a reporter. From 1985 to 1989, he was based in Atlanta, Ga., where he covered the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion and the 1988 presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis. In 1989, Whitaker became CBS' Tokyo correspondent where he reported on stories throughout Asia, from the Tiananmen Square massacre, to military coup attempts in the Philippines. From Tokyo, Whitaker also covered stories throughout the Middle East and Asia, including the build-up to Desert Storm in Baghdad.
In 1992, Whitaker became a CBS correspondent in Los Angeles, Calif., where he has since been responsible for reporting on important breaking news events all over the continental United States, Iraq, Japan and China. His reports regularly appear on the "CBS Evening News" and other CBS News broadcasts.
Whitaker won his first Emmy in 1989 for a segment on “48 Hours” on the collapse of Jim and Tammy Bakker's television ministry. In 2000, he was honored at the Minorities in Broadcasting Training Program's 7th Annual "Striving for Excellence Awards." In 2017, he was recognized with the Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award from the Radio Television Digital News Foundation for his major contributions to the protection of First Amendment freedoms. The following year, Whitaker received the Sidney Hillman Prize for his socially conscious reporting in the “60 Minutes” segments “The Whistleblower” and “Too Big to Prosecute.” He is also the 2018 winner of the Radio Television Digital News Association's highest honor, the Paul White Award for career achievement.
Whitaker has remained connected to his alma mater, serving on the Colleges' Board of Trustees since 2001. In 2020, he was named chair of the Board’s committee on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Whitaker has spoken on campus on a number of occasions, including as the master of ceremonies at the opening celebrations of Campaign for the Colleges. In 2008 and 1997, he spoke at the Colleges' commencement ceremonies. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for his committed service in 1997.
Although he regularly travels across the world to cover the news, he remains active in his community through volunteer activities with adult literacy tutoring programs and through serving meals in homeless shelters. In 2018, he joined the National Advisory Board of the Posse Foundation, one of the most successful college access and youth leadership development programs in the country.
Whitaker graduated from Hobart College in 1973 with a B.A. degree in American history. He went on to Boston University, where he earned a master's degree in African-American studies in 1974. He also attended a graduate Journalism program at the University of California, Berkeley in 1978.