IU Northwest Business Speakers Series Luncheon to Feature Renowned Chicago News Anchor Walter Jacobson

Longtime CBS and Fox anchor and commentator to deliver keynote at April 22 event at the Radisson Hotel Star Plaza in Merrillville indiana-university-northwest

On Thursday, April 22, the Indiana University Northwest School of Business and Economics -- Chicagoland’s Affordable AACSB Business School — and the IU Northwest Business Alliance will welcome retired Chicago news anchor and commentator Walter Jacobson as the keynote speaker for the 2010 Business Speakers Series Luncheon at the Radisson Hotel Star Plaza. Doors open at 11 a.m. and lunch is served at 12 p.m. in the Grand Metropolitan room of the Radisson, located at 800 E. 81st Ave. in Merrillville.

Tickets are $35 per person or $350 for a table of 10, which includes eight corporate representatives and two IU Northwest business students. Platinum, Gold, and Silver sponsorship packages are also available. The deadline to register is Friday, April 16, 2010. For more information, contact the School of Business and Economics at (219) 980-6552.

Jacobson is a renowned Chicago television news personality and former anchor who hosted FOX Chicago Perspective, a one-hour news and political show that aired Sunday mornings on WFLD-TV. He was the principal anchor on WFLD’s FOX News at 9 p.m. until his 2006 retirement.

Jacobson began his career at WBBM-TV as a writer and a reporter. In 1971 he moved over to WMAQ for two years, but he returned to WBBM as an investigative reporter and anchor. He was solo anchor of the 5 p.m. news for 10 years and co-anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast for 16 years. For most of his time at WBBM, his co-anchor was Bill Kurtis. They formed a legendary anchor team in Chicago during the mid-1970s and early 1980s, when WBBM dominated the Chicago ratings

Jacobson’s commentary, anchoring and reporting skills have made him the recipient of several prestigious awards. The Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognized his commentaries with Emmy Awards. In 1985, a Washington Journalism Review poll named Jacobson best local anchor in the United States. In 1988, he received his fifth Peter Lisagor Award, his third for Best Commentary. During the 1980s, the DuPont-Columbia judges honored him twice, once for his commentaries and again for best local election coverage in the United States for his work with Channel 2. Jacobson’s notable WBBM-TV specials and programs included the Emmy Award-winning “Walter Jacobson’s Journal: China” and “Studebaker: Less Than They Promised,” which received a Peabody Award.

IU Northwest, the School of Business and Economics, and the IU Northwest Business Alliance are pleased to welcome Walter Jacobson to Northwest Indiana for the 2010 Business Speakers Series Luncheon. This annual event serves as a fundraiser to benefit the business school, which is the only public business program in Northwest Indiana to be accredited by the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB). In January 2010, AACSB reaffirmed the business school’s accreditation for another six years.

The IU Northwest Business Alliance strives to create a professional partnership between the IU Northwest School of Business and Economics and members of the Northwest Indiana business community. This partnership is meant to increase the interaction between the school and the business community by leveraging faculty and staff expertise to assist local businesses, by retaining the school’s students for jobs in Northwest Indiana, and by ensuring business input into the school’s curriculum planning and mission processes.

For more information on this year’s Business Speakers Series Luncheon, contact the School of Business and Economics at (219) 980-6552, or visit the Web at www.iun.edu.