Speakers
Frank Sesno
Widely respected from the newsroom to the classroom, Frank Sesno has been chronicling world events as a journalist for more than 25 years. He serves as a Professor of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University (GW) in Washington, DC, and he is a Special Correspondent for CNN where he makes documentaries and works on special projects for the network.
Sesno’s most recent documentary was a profile of the controversial 21st Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld. The program, Rumsfeld: Man of War aired in October, 2006 as part of CNN’s award-winning documentary series CNN Presents. His previous CNN documentary, We Were Warned: Tomorrow's Oil Crisis, examined America’s unhealthy reliance on oil.
From 2004-05, Sesno produced and hosted a series of one-hour public television specials, Sesno Reports, focusing on key issues confronting the country. Topics ranged from the war in Iraq to cancer research, from the problem of underage drinking to immigration. In 2003 he hosted Worldtalk, an Emmy award-winning globally-focused public affairs series on WETA, Washington’s flagship public television station. Other public television projects include Avoiding Armageddon, a four-part, eight-hour PBS documentary that aired in April 2003 about weapons of mass destruction. In 2002, Sesno reported and hosted a two-hour documentary for The History Channel on the life and legacy of Ronald Reagan.
Prior to joining the faculty at GW, Sesno served as a university professor of public policy and communication at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. As part of this academic appointment, he also served as a senior fellow for the University’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Program, where he moderated a six-part series of "Critical Conversations" between key public and private sector leaders involved in homeland security.
His work on media and homeland security took him across the country, engaging public officials and citizens in a series of provocative discussions. These town hall meetings, "Homeland Security from the Citizen’s Perspective" were conducted in conjunction with the Council on Excellence in Government, and contributed to a landmark report published by the Council. Sesno also served as Media Subject Matter Expert for a major terrorism tabletop exercise called TOPOFF 2 in 2003.
From 1996 through 2001 Sesno served as the Washington, D.C., bureau chief and senior vice president for CNN. He supervised the network’s largest newsgathering team and oversaw the bureau’s operations and its editorial direction. Prior to being named Washington bureau chief, Sesno served as White House correspondent, anchor and talk show host.
Sesno has anchored and reported many major international news events, including presidential and economic summits, Middle East Peace talks, and the 50th anniversary of D-Day from Normandy. He has interviewed four American presidents -– George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Among other diverse personalities his interviews include Hillary Rodham Clinton; Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak; Nelson Mandela, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat; Israeli Prime Ministers Sharon, Netanyahu, and Rabin; King Hussein of Jordan; and Czech President Vaclav Havel.
Sesno originally joined CNN in 1984 from AP Radio where he was an overseas correspondent based in London and later a White House correspondent. Before joining AP Radio, Sesno was with the Voice of America. He started his broadcast career with WCFR Radio in Springfield, VT.
Sesno’s awards include a national Emmy Award and a regional Emmy Award, several CableAce and Cine Golden Eagle Awards and the Overseas Press Club Award for Best Spot News Reporting from Abroad in radio.
He serves on the advisory board of the Washington, DC chapter of the POSSE Foundation, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a former trustee of Middlebury College, and he is a former board member of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism awards.
Conversant in Spanish and French, Sesno earned an honors degree in American history from Middlebury College in Vermont, graduating cum laude. He holds an honorary doctorate from the Monterrey Institute of International Studies.
