Bill Kurtis Biography

An acclaimed documentary host and producer network and major market news anchor multimedia production company president and grass-fed cattle rancher Bill Kurtis has been earning the respect of his peers and viewers for more than 46 years.
Born in Florida and reared in Independence Kansas after his father retired as a career Marine officer Bill graduated from The University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism. He attended Washburn University School of Law where he was awarded a Juris Doctor degree.
Bill Kurtis began his career at WIBW-TV in Topeka Kansas. In 1966 after being recognized for his 24-hour coverage of a devastating tornado Kurtis was hired by WBBM-TV in Chicago where he was field reporter and later anchor of The Channel Two News. In 1978 his investigative unit was first to report on the defoliant Agent Orange and how it affected American forces in Vietnam. In the course of covering that story he returned to Vietnam in 1980 and found that children of American servicemen -- Amer-Asians -- were living in the streets of Saigon their mothers unable to find jobs. It became a cover story in the New York Times Magazine. His reporting resulted in legislation that (1) allowed the children immediate access to the United States and (2) launched massive studies of Vietnam veterans to make Agent Orange exposure eligible for compensation and treatment. It established a new standard of care for veterans that continues to expand nearly 37 years after the War. In 1982 Kurtis became co-anchor of the CBS Morning News with Diane Sawyer. He returned to Chicago & WBBM-TV as anchorman from 1985-1996 and was reunited with co-anchor Walter Jacobson in the fall of 2010.

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