Distinguished Alumni Recognition for 2007
William H. Kurtis '66

Photograph: William Kurtis.William H. Kurtis received his Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Kansas in 1962 and his Juris Doctor from Washburn University School of Law in 1966. Kurtis served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1962 to 1963.

In 1966, Kurtis was working for WIBW TV part-time while attending Washburn Law. He provided coverage of the tornado that ripped through Topeka, leaving 16 dead and hundreds injured. After learning of the dangerous weather, Kurtis shouted a warning that became synonymous with the deadly twister: "For Gods sake, take cover." He remained on the air to cover the destruction for 24 hours straight. Kurtis received national attention for his coverage of the tornado and is credited with saving many lives.

Kurtis is an acclaimed documentary host and producer, network and major market news anchor and multimedia production company president.

In 1973, Kurtis teamed up with Walter Jacobson and over the next nine years, made Chicago television history. In the process, Kurtis initiated several innovative practices which became standards for the business today, including local “foreign correspondent” reports from the field and his "Focus" unit investigations. Kurtis became the first foreign correspondent for CBS affiliate WBBM reporting from Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and Africa.

Kurtis covered such notable stories as the Richard Speck murders and the Charles Manson trial. He is also credited with breaking the Agent Orange story and the story of Amerasian Children in Vietnam.

In 1982, he co-anchored the CBS Morning News with Diane Sawyer, where for three and-a-half years he completed a series of hour-long documentaries for the prestigious CBS Reports. In 1985, Kurtis began his career as a documentarian, for the Peabody Award-winning series The New Explorers, which aired on PBS. In 1990, he founded Kurtis Productions and began producing programs for the A&E Television Network, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files.

Kurtis is executive producer of Cold Case Files, the original forensic series, which began in 1998 as a sub-strand of the Emmy® Award-winning Investigative Reports. Since 1992, Kurtis has been the anchor of A&E's American Justice.

For over ten years, Kurtis was executive producer and anchor of Investigative Reports, the longest running series on television. Investigative Reports was the recipient of several awards, including the Thurgood Marshall Journalism Award for the Kurtis-produced program, Death Penalty on Trial. In this series, Kurtis presented some of the most talked-about news-based documentaries on television over the past decade, including the five-part The Men Who Killed Kennedy; the two-hour Newt Gingrich and the Republican Revolution; the four-part special, Naked News; and The Secret Tapes of Richard Speck, a controversial exposé of lax conditions in the Illinois prison system that resulted in statewide prison reform.

Kurtis is also executive producer of the weekly series, Investigating History, airing on The History Channel.

Kurtis received an Honorary Doctor of Literature from Washburn University in 1985; the Distinguished Service Award from the Washburn Law School Association in 1999; the Distinguished Service Award from the Washburn Alumni Association in 1982; was the keynote speaker at the 30th anniversary of the Topeka tornado, June 8, 1996; and served on the Washburn Law School Association Board of Governors from 1977 to 1978.

Kurtis created the Media and Entertainment Law Fund at the Law School, which benefits students who support law school programs relating to media and/or entertainment law at Washburn Law.