Stedman Graham (born March 6, 1951) is an American educator, author, businessman, and

public speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

. He is the long-term partner of

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

Early life and education

Graham was born on March 6, 1951, in the Whitesboro section of

Middle Township, New Jersey Middle Township is a township in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area and of South Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 20,380, an increase o ...

, the son of Mary Jacobs Graham and Stedman Graham Sr. He is one of six children. He stands tall. He received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in social work from Hardin-Simmons University in 1974 and a master's degree in education from

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

in 1979. Graham played college

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

at Hardin-Simmons.

Business career

Graham eventually moved to

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

, to establish himself in public relations. At B & C Associates, Graham worked on behalf of Black causes and worked with many distinguished clients, including author

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

and South African activist

Winnie Mandela Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She serv ...

. He is also founder of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's AAD (formerly, Athletes Against Drugs), a non-profit organization that provides services to youth and has awarded over $1.5 million in scholarships since its founding in 1985. It also arranged for sports figures to educate children about substance abuse. He is a member of the Indiana Broadcasting Hall of Fame. In 1988 Graham created S. Graham & Associates, a Chicago-based corporate and educational marketing and consulting firm. Graham was an adjunct professor at

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center ...

Public speaking

Graham has delivered speeches at many public and private schools on the topics of identity and self-awareness.

Books

Graham is the author of several

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

and business-related books, including: *''The Ultimate Guide to Sport Event Management and Marketing'' (1995). *''You Can Make It Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success'' (1997) *''You Can Make It Happen Every Day'' (1998) *''Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps for Success'' (2000) *''Teens Can Make It Happen Workbook'' (2001) *''The Ultimate Guide to Sports Marketing'' (2001) *''Build Your Own Life Brand!: A Powerful Strategy to Maximize Your Potential and Enhance Your Value for Ultimate Achievement'' (2002) *''Move Without the Ball: Put Your Skills and Your Magic to Work for You'' (2004) *''Who Are You?'' (2005) *''Diversity: Leaders Not Labels: A New Plan for the 21st Century'' (2006) *''Identity: Your Passport to Success'' (2012) *''Identity Leadership: To Lead Others You Must First Lead Yourself'' (2019)

Other publications

Graham became a columnist for ''The Huffington Post'' in 2013. He contributed an article on personal identity to the College Board School Counseling Series in 2012.

Personal life

Graham was a tennis instructor at the Denver Country Club when he met

Robin Robinson Robin Carolle Brantley (born August 4, 1957), known professionally as Robin Robinson, is a longtime Chicago television news anchor best known for her 27 years as main news anchor at Fox-owned WFLD-TV in Chicago. She can now be heard on the radi ...

. She was a weekend news anchor on KMGH-TV at the time. They were in a relationship from 1982 to 1986. Graham has been the subject of much publicity since 1986, most notably through tabloid articles claiming to chronicle his ongoing relationship with Oprah Winfrey. Graham has been with Winfrey since 1986. He was conferred an honorary degree by

Notre Dame de Namur University Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private Catholic university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in California and the first college in the state authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 2021, the u ...

of Belmont, Calif., at the university's 167th Commencement ceremony on May 4, 2019.

References

External links

Stedman Graham's home pageStedman Graham's Charity AAD home page
*

– Video clip, book listings, speaking topics.
Stedman Graham's ExecutiveBiz Executive Spotlight Interview
– Executive Spotlight Interview
Stedman Graham on creating a personal brand
Sally Duros: An interview with Stedman Graham
Stedman Graham – Who Are You
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Stedman 1951 births Living people African-American basketball players African-American businesspeople American self-help writers People from Abilene, Texas People from Middle Township, New Jersey Ball State University alumni University of Illinois Chicago faculty University of Chicago faculty Hardin–Simmons Cowboys basketball players Weatherford College alumni Middle Township High School alumni American men's basketball players 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century African-American academics 21st-century American businesspeople