The University of Iowa Eight Over 80 Award
Tom Brokaw (10LHD)
Before he became one of the nation's most respected network news anchors, Tom Brokaw spent his freshman year at the University of Iowa. It was an experience he never forgot, and throughout his life, Brokaw has remained a proud Iowa supporter.
The longtime NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor has narrated documentaries about his alma mater and the Hawkeye football team—and served on the steering committee for the Iowa Endowment 2000 fundraising campaign. In 2002, Brokaw and his wife, Meredith, established a scholarship for Iowa students, and the university commended his accomplishments with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997 and an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in 2010.
After covering a half century of news and authoring numerous American histories, Brokaw received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Barack Obama in 2014. Obama called Brokaw "the chronicler of the Greatest Generation," saying, "We celebrate him as one of our nation's greatest journalists."
In 2016, Brokaw donated his papers to the UI Libraries Special Collections and Archives. He shipped more than 90 boxes of appointment books, artifacts, letters, speeches, photos, press passes, and notebooks to the archives. This collection, the Papers of Tom Brokaw: A Life and Career, provide a comprehensive view of his storied professional life.
The year he turned 80, Brokaw mentored journalism students on the Daily Iowan staff during their coverage of the 2020 Iowa caucuses.
A loyal Hawkeye at heart, Brokaw's legacy of kindness and generosity will endure on campus for generations to come.