Biography of Bill Moyers

During his 25 years in broadcasting Bill Moyers has pursued a broad spectrum of journalism. The International Conference on Thinking, an annual gathering of scholars and researchers dedicated to improving critical and creative thinking, recently honored Moyers as a broadcaster "whose contributions to public awareness of the value and processes of thinking span multiple areas: helping the American public understand how we think, the influences that impact our thinking, and the joy and contributions that result from thinking effectively." In presenting Moyers with the prestigious Gold Baton, the highest honor of the Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award, Columbia University President Michael Sovern called him "a unique voice, still seeking new frontiers in television, daring to assume that viewing audiences are willing to think and learn."

A survey of television critics by Television Quarterly, the official journal of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, placed Moyers among the ten journalists who have had the most significant influence on television news. The Academy has also recognized his work with more than 30 Emmy Awards for excellence. He is one of the first three persons to be awarded the Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts by the American Film Institute. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has also received the Career Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association and has been honored by the Television Critics Association for outstanding career achievement. He was elected to the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and a year later received the Charles Frankel Prize (now the National Humanities Medal) from the National Endowment for the Endowment for the Humanities "for outstanding contributions to American cultural life."

Before establishing Public Affairs Television in 1986, he served as executive editor of the Bill Moyers' Journal on public television, senior news analyst for the CBS Evening News, and chief correspondent for the acclaimed documentary series, CBS Reports. Two of his public television series, Creativity (1982) and A Walk Through the 20th Century (1984), were named the outstanding informational series by the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

With his wife and partner, Judith, who is president of Public Affairs Television, he has produced more than 250 programming hours including Facing Evil, In Search of the Constitution, The Secret Government...The Constitution in Crisis, God and Politics, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, A World of Ideas, The Public Mind, A Gathering of Men with Robert Bly, Amazing Grace, The Songs are Free with Bernice Johnson Reagon, Project Censored, Sports for Sale, The Arab World, All our Children, The Power of the Word, Beyond Hate, The Home Front, Spirit and Nature, Special Report: After the War, 20 Years of Listening to America, Circle of Recovery, Facing Hate with Elle Wiesel, Minimum Wages, Hate on Trial, Families First, Listening to America (an election-year series), and, The Great Health Care Debate, What Can We Do About Violence?, The Language of Life, The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith, Genesis, and most recently, Close To Home: Moyers on Addiction.

In addition to his 1971 best-selling book Listening to America, four of Moyers' books based on his television series have also become bestsellers: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, A World of Ideas I and II, and Healing and the Mind. His other books include Report from Philadelphia (celebrating the Bicentennial of the Constitution), The Secret Government and Genesis.

Before entering broadcasting Moyers was Deputy Director of the Peace Corps in the Kennedy Administration and Special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1963-1967. He left the White House in January 1967, to become publisher of Newsday, was for 12 years a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and now serves as president of The Florence and John Schumann Foundation. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Organization of American Historians.

Born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas, Moyers began his varied career as a cub reporter on the Marshall News Messenger at age 16. He is a graduate of the University of Texas, which has presented him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award, and holds the Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Moyers' wife, Judith Davidson, an education specialist and corporate director, is his partner and creative collaborator and is president of their production company, Public Affairs Television, Inc. They have three grown children.