Rob Stafford (born December 15, 1958) is a former Chicago television anchor and a former correspondent for NBC's

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasion ...

newsmagazine.

Early life and education

A native of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, Robert R. Stafford earned a degree in political science and journalism at

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

in 1981.

Professional career

Stafford began his career as a reporter and anchor for

KBJR-TV KBJR-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Superior, Wisconsin, United States, serving the Duluth, Minnesota, area as an affiliate of NBC and CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CW+ affiliate KDLH (channel 3). Both statio ...

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

and

WFRV-TV WFRV-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on East Mason Street in Green Bay, and its transmitter is located north of Mor ...

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

. He then became a morning news anchor and an investigative reporter at

WFTV-TV WFTV (channel 9) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside independent station WRDQ (channel 27). Both stations share studios on East South Street (SR 15) in dow ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. While at WFTV, Stafford founded the station's investigative unit and launched a two-year investigation into hotel security in Orlando, which because of Disney World is a popular tourist destination. Stafford's work exposed significant security breaches for tourists and ultimately resulted in a grand jury investigation. In September 1992, Stafford joined

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Stre ...

in Chicago as a general assignment reporter. During his four years at the station, he also worked as a fill-in anchor. Stafford left WBBM in 1996 to join NBC's

newsmagazine show, where he worked as a Chicago-based correspondent for the newsmagazine program for almost 11 years. He was removed from Dateline NBC in 2006 in a cost-cutting move. On September 23, 2007, Stafford joined WMAQ-TV/NBC5 Chicago as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter. "I wanted this job and asked for it," Stafford told the Chicago Sun-Times after being hired by WMAQ. He moved to the main anchor position in July 2009 and anchored the station's 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. newscasts. He retired on December 23, 2022.

Awards

While at Dateline, Stafford won two national news Emmy awards. He also won the Edward R. Murrow award in 2000 for his Dateline investigation into racial profiling.

Personal

Stafford and his wife, Lisa and their daughter Addy, who is an actress, live in

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...

. Stafford was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder,

amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weight ...

in 2017. His doctors diagnosed it early, and Stafford will undergo a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy. He credits his wife, Lisa, for encouraging him to undergo further tests after a routine physical revealed slightly elevated protein levels.

Lawsuits

In August 2019, Stafford was recently sued against the sterilization solution company Sterigenics while during his amyloidosis diagnosis that he was exposed to toxic levels of ethylene oxide from the company's west suburban Willowbrook facility plant. At that time, Stafford lived in Hinsdale and belonged to a sports club in

Burr Ridge Burr Ridge (formerly Harvester) is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it is among the wealthiest towns in Illinois and is locally known for its large, elegant mansions and luxury lifestyles. ...

, the company's sterilization process was found to have resulted in ethylene oxide emission, causing exposure in portions of Burr Ridge and Hinsdale. His lawsuit against the company seeks more than $50,000 in damages. A spokesperson of WMAQ-TV said that he has not been assigned to report on, or read, any stories involving Sterigenics.

References

External links

*http://www.nbcchicago.com/on-air/about-us/Rob_Stafford.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Rob Television anchors from Chicago American television reporters and correspondents Macalester College alumni Living people 1958 births American male journalists