Charles Bierbauer | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1942-07-22)July 22, 1942 (age 82) Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Emmaus High School Pennsylvania State University |
| Occupation(s) | Academic dean and broadcast journalist |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Employer(s) | University of South Carolina andCNN |
| Spouse | Susanne Schafe |
| Children | 4 |
Charles Bierbauer (born July 22, 1942) is a former professor anddean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at theUniversity of South Carolina.[1][2]
Bierbauer previously spent over two decades atCNN, where he served asPentagon correspondent, seniorWhite House correspondent for almost a decade during theReagan andGeorge H. W. Bush administrations, covered theU.S. Supreme Court, and was the network's seniorWashington, D.C. correspondent.[3] As a CNN correspondent, he reported on fivepresidential campaigns and traveled withU.S. presidents to all 50 states and over 30 nations.
Bierbauer was born July 22, 1942, inAllentown, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate ofEmmaus High School inEmmaus, Pennsylvania andPenn State, where he earned three degrees, a bachelor's degree inRussian, a bachelor's degree injournalism, and a master's degree injournalism. Penn State has named him a distinguished alumnus and alumni fellow.[4]
In 1962, Bierbauer joined the7217th Air Division, where he was assigned toSinop, Turkey, serving with theU.S. Army Security Agency in 1962 and 1963. At Sinop, he was part of a cadre of young soldiers who worked wiring the remote base for radio. Bierbauer reported news, did play-by-play base sports, and hosted a jazz show. He started his commercial broadcast career as a radio reporter for WKAP radio inAllentown, Pennsylvania in 1963. He also worked in print journalism, writing forThe Morning Call in Allentown.
In 1967 and 1968, he was a reporter with theAssociated Press inPittsburgh, and aChicago Daily News correspondent inBonn,West Germany.[5] In 1969, he joinedGroup W as itsEastern Europe correspondent based inVienna. The following year, in 1970, he transferred to Bonn, Germany, where he covered Germany and Eastern Europe. In 1974, he was appointed Group W's foreign editor based in London. In 1976, Group W assigned Bierbauer as a television reporter atKYW, itsPhiladelphia station, where he worked through 1977.
From 1977 to 1981, Bierbauer was a foreign correspondent forABC News, serving as ABC'sMoscow bureau chief and later as its Bonn bureau chief.
In 1981, Bierbauer joinedCNN, where he was CNN'sPentagon correspondent from 1981 to 1984, its seniorWhite House correspondent from 1984 to 1993, and its seniorWashington, D.C. correspondent from 1993 to 2001. From 1997 to 2001, he covered theU.S. Supreme Court and legal affairs.[6]
In 2001, he was a reporter and producer forDiscovery Channel's documentary on theSeptember 11 attacks.
In July 2002, Bierbauer was appointed the first dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at theUniversity of South Carolina inColumbia, South Carolina, and served in this position until August 2017.[1]
In 1997, he was awarded anEmmy Award for anchoring CNN's coverage of theCentennial Olympic Park bombing inAtlanta. He is a recipient of theCableACE Award from theAssociation for Cable Excellence and theOverseas Press Club Award for Group W's reporting on theYom Kippur War.[7]
He served as a member of the National Council for Media and Public Affairs atGeorge Washington University, and is on the advisory board for the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism. While in Washington, D.C., he was a lecturer for thePenn State program in Washington, D.C., and a member of Penn State's College of Communications Board of Visitors and the alumni association's Communications Advisory Board.[8]
Bierbauer is ofGerman descent and is married to Susanne Schafer, anAssociated Press reporter and formerly AP'sPentagon correspondent. He has four children and eight grandchildren.[9]
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| Preceded by Position created | CNN SeniorWhite House Correspondent 1984 – 1993 | Succeeded by |