Jim Gray, NBC sports reporter and ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder alumnus, will be the keynote speaker at the commencement ceremony for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication on May 10 at 3 p.m. in Macky Auditorium.
Gray attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver and graduated from ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder in 1981 with a degree in journalism. During his career, Gray has covered some of the world's biggest sporting events. He currently serves as a reporter on NBC's NFL pregame shows and NBA programs and recently reported from the swimming and track and field competitions in Sydney, his third Olympic assignment for NBC and fifth overall.
Gray received critical acclaim for his reporting from the scene of the Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. His other major stories with NBC include the World Series, two Ryder Cups, the NBA finals and three Super Bowls. He also worked on the network's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Olympics from Seoul, the 1999 Track and Field World Championships from Seville and the 2000 Track and Field Olympic Trials. Gray formerly worked as a reporter for CBS Sports and as ESPN's West Coast Bureau Chief.
Gray has interviewed some of the most influential people in the world, including former Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Bill Clinton.
Other notable interviews include Muhammad Ali and a schoolboy golfing legend named Tiger Woods. "I interviewed Tiger Woods when he was eight years old and then after he became the youngest golfer to win the Masters," Gray said in an interview for the School of Journalism's alumni newsletter. "He remembered me and said that he watched that tape a thousand times."
A total of 186 students will be graduating from the School of Journalism this spring, including two doctoral students, 13 master's students and 171 undergraduates from five majors: advertising, media studies, news-editorial, broadcast news and broadcast production management.
For more information on the School's degrees, programs, faculty and centers, visit the Web site at or call (303) 492-5007.