Lester Holt, weekend anchor for the flagship broadcast NBC Nightly News, and co-anchor of the weekend edition of TODAY, will be the Keynote Speaker at King Low Heywood Thomas commencement on Sunday, June 7, at 4:00 p.m.
The ceremony will be held in a tent in from of the King Middle School. King is located at 1450 Newfield Avenue in Stamford. Other speakers at King's commencement include Tom Main, Head of School; and Peter Reinemann, President, Board of Trustees. A reception for all participants will be held immediately following the commencement ceremony.
Mr. Holt, who also serves as fill-in anchor and correspondent for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and the weekday TODAY program, has reported from many of the world's hot spots. In 2006, he reported from the front lines in Lebanon on the war between Israel and Hezbollah and from London, he reported on the terror threat to U.S. bound-airliners from the UK. In 2005, Mr. Holt was on the ground for Hurricane Katrina covering events both in Louisiana and Mississippi, and later that fall covered Hurricane Rita in Texas.
Before becoming co-anchor of Weekend TODAY, Holt anchored "Lester Holt Live," a daily news show on MSNBC in which he covered breaking news and provided news updates and analysis. Mr. Holt has also served as the lead anchor for daytime news and breaking news coverage on MSNBC. He has served as a primary anchor for MSNBC's coverage of the biggest news events of the last several years, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war in Afghanistan, and he was the lead daytime anchor for MSNBC's coverage of Decision 2000. Holt also served as anchor of "Countdown: Iraq," a nightly news telecast concentrating on the latest developments surrounding the war with Iraq, from October 2002 through March 2003.
The award-winning broadcast journalist came to MSNBC from WBBM-TV in Chicago, where he spent 14 years. His duties at WBBM-TV included anchoring the evening news. Mr. Holt not only worked at the anchor desk in Chicago, but he also reported extensively from trouble spots around the world including Iraq, Northern Ireland, Somalia, El Salvador and Haiti. He has contributed to the CBS News broadcast "48 Hours," earning a 1990 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award for his work on "48 Hours: No Place Like Home."
Students from more than 30 towns and villages in Fairfield and Westchester Counties attend King. Kingís Class of 2009 has 60 students. Friends and family are welcome to attend commencement as we celebrate the achievements of our graduates.
