# Boston University College of Communication

Boston University College of Communication (COM) is the communication school of Boston University (BU), a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1947, it was the first university in the United States to offer a degree in public relations (PR), and the program sets the standard for PR paths across the country. It houses the University's undergraduate and graduate programs in advertising, film and television, journalism, media science, and public relations.

## Notable alumni

* Chet Simmons (COM '52) – first ESPN president, ABC Sports executive, NBC Sports president, USFL commissioner, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010, helped build ABC Sports into a leader in sports programming, developed Wide World of Sports
* Jean Firstenberg (COM '58) – President and CEO of the American Film Institute (1980–2007), only woman to serve
* Donald Lambro (COM '62) – chief political correspondent of The Washington Times
* Nina Totenberg (COM 65*) – correspondent for National Public Radio, one of NPR's "Founding Mothers"
* David Doubilet (COM '70) – National Geographic photographer
* Joe Roth (COM '71) – Chairman, Walt Disney Studios (1994–2000); Chairman, 20th Century Fox (1989–1993), Caravan Pictures (1993–1994), and founder of major American film studio, Morgan Creek Entertainment
* Bonnie Hammer (COM '71, SED '75), Chairman, NBCUniversal
* Lauren Shuler Donner (COM '71) – X-Men film series franchise producer, films have grossed around $5.5 billion
* Joseph Nocera (COM '74) Pulitzer Prize for Commentary finalist, columnist, New York Times
* Joan Vennochi (COM '75) – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The Boston Globe, 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
* Mark Thompson (COM '75) – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
* Howard Stern (COM '76) – host of The Howard Stern Show
* Ted Harbert (COM '77), Chairman, NBC Broadcasting, President and CEO of the Comcast Entertainment Group, and Chairman of ABC Entertainment
* Bonnie Arnold (COM '78) – Academy Award-nominated producer, prominent figure in initial wave of computer-animation, producer of Toy Story, Tarzan, and How to Train Your Dragon
* Jim Donovan (COM '78), news anchor, play-by-play announcer for NBC Sports' NFL coverage (1987–1997), radio voice of the Cleveland Browns Radio Network since 1999
* Michael Williams (COM '79) – Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning producer, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Queer Eye
* Brian Bedol (COM '80) – creator of ESPN Classic, founder and CEO, CBS Sports Network
* Deborah Liebling (COM '81) – Emmy Award-nominated producer, President of Production at Universal Pictures, responsible for South Park
* Kevin Burns (COM ’81) – Emmy Award-winning producer of A&E's Biography series, also Ancient Aliens, America's Book of Secrets
* Anthony Radziwill (COM '82) Emmy Award-winning NBC anchor and reporter, Peabody Award for an investigation on the resurgence of Nazism in the United States, son of Caroline Lee Bouvier Canfield, nephew of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, spouse of Carole Radziwiłł
* Richard Gladstein (COM '83) – Academy Award-nominated producer, Pulp Fiction, She's All That, The Bourne Identity
* Scott Rosenberg (COM '85) – writer, producer, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, Beautiful Girls, High Fidelity
* Joseph Hallinan (COM '84) – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The Indianapolis Star, 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
* Don Van Natta Jr. (COM '86) – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The New York Times and The Miami Herald, 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, 1999 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
* Andy Cohen (COM '90) – Primetime Emmy Award and Peabody Award-winning host, executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise
* Nancy Dubuc (COM '91), CEO, Vice Media, CEO and President, A+E Networks
* Tyler Hicks (COM '93) – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The New York Times, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
* Bill Simmons (COM '93) – ESPN columnist, CEO of the sports and pop culture website The Ringer, The Bill Simmons Podcast
* Hong Chau (COM '01) – Academy Award-nominated actress, Best Supporting Actress for The Whale, starred in Netflix's The Menu, Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, A24's Showing Up, Ngoc Lan Tran in Downsizing, Netflix's The Night Agent
* Nora Grossman (COM '05) – Academy Award-nominated producer, Best Picture for The Imitation Game
* Josh Safdie (COM '07) – co-director of A24's Uncut Gems, Palme d'Or-nominee Good Time, Heaven Knows What
* Benjamin Safdie (COM '08) – co-director of A24's Uncut Gems, Palme d'Or-nominee Good Time, Heaven Knows What, starred in Licorice Pizza, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., actor in Oppenheimer
*no degree