Elmer Wilson Lower (March 7, 1913 – July 26, 2011) was an American journalist and president of

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

from 1963 to 1974. Lower received a bachelor of

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

degree from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

in 1933. Afterwards, he worked for 20 years for a variety of newspapers in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Missouri, specializing in political beats. Lower was named president of ABC News in 1963. During his tenure, he was responsible for hiring

Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-born American television journalist who served as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. He dropped o ...

Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 years as a broadc ...

, Frank Reynolds, and

Sam Donaldson Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr. (born March 11, 1934) is an American former reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to 2009. He is best known as the network's White House Correspondent (1977–1989 and 1998–99) and as a panelist ...

. In that time, the news division grew from 250 to 750 employees, and the evening news expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. He joined the faculty of his alma mater in 1978, and was appointed dean of the

School of Journalism A journalism school is a school or department, usually part of an established university, where journalists are trained. 'J-School' is an increasingly used term for a journalism department at a school or college. Journalists in most parts of the ...

for the 1982-1983 academic year. Lower was honored with a lifetime achievement Emmy award in 1975. Lower died on July 26, 2011 at the age of 98 in Vero Beach, Florida.

Accolades

* 1975: Paul White Award,

Radio Television Digital News Association The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, pronounced the same as " rotunda"), formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, television, and online news dire ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lower, Elmer University of Missouri alumni University of Missouri faculty Businesspeople from Columbia, Missouri American Broadcasting Company executives Presidents of ABC News 2011 deaths 1913 births