Carole Simpson

Veteran journalist Carole Simpson, former longtime weekend anchor of “ABC World News Tonight,” will serve as Leader-in-Residence at Emerson College beginning this term. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, this month she begins hosting “Conversations with Carole Simpson,” a new series launched by the college and open to Emerson students, faculty and the general public.

“Carole Simpson is one of the most seasoned and respected political journalists of our time,” said Emerson College President Jacqueline Liebergott. “We are delighted that she will be joining us as a teacher and mentor.”

Simpson brings four decades of print, radio and television experience to Emerson, teaching public affairs reporting in Emerson’s journalism department and co-teaching a senior capstone course in the Department of Organizational and Political Communication.

“I’m looking forward to engaging Emerson students, to teach and share what I have learned about the important roles they can play in our country — as involved citizens and as journalists,” Simpson said.

Simpson began her career working in community newspapers, radio and television in her native Chicago. In 1982 she left NBC News to join ABC News, where she served as weekend anchor from 1988 to 2003. She moderated the historic second presidential debate in 1992, the first woman and first African American to do so. Over the past four years, she wrote two columns for ABC’s Web site and served as an ambassador to high schools for ABC, reaching over 5,000 students in two years. She is now a regular commentator for National Public Radio (NPR).

Simpson’s reporting has garnered three Emmys, two duPont-Columbia Awards, one Peabody Award and the Milestone in Broadcasting Award from the National Commission on Working Women, among others. In 1992, the National Association of Black Journalists named her Journalist of the Year. In 1999, she was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame.