Quinnipiac University has announced it will honor NBC News foreign correspondent Richard Engel and the late Bob Simon of CBS News at its annual Fred Friendly First Amendment Award lunch next month in New York.
“There is a characteristic that is shared by all great journalists: the willingness to run towards danger when others are running away from it,” said Lee Kamlet, dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac. “Between them, Bob Simon and Richard Engel have 70 years of experience, much of it spent in war zones, stretching from Southeast Asia to the Middle East to the conflict in Ireland. Time and again throughout their careers, Richard and Bob put themselves in harm’s way to do what is necessary in order to inform the public.”
Simon died earlier this year in a car crash in New York City a short time after finishing one his last stories for 60 Minutes. Simon’s final story, was completed by fellow 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft and ran this past weekend.
The Friendly Award lunch is an invitation only event. Quinnipiac has presented the award since 1994. It is named after the former president of CBS News.
