2005 Recipients

Mr. Clifford began his broadcast activities at WMU, when as a speech major he led an initiative to create WIDR, the University's student-run radio station. He is now recognized as a pioneer in developing television programming and in the cable-TV, cellular-phone, paging, broadcast-cable and satellite-network industries.

Mr. Clifford’s many and varied accomplishments include building the electronic media division of the Providence Journal Co., where he was executive vice president; founding the Television Food Network, where he was chairman; and founding the five-state, 24-hour news channel Northwest Cable News, where he was chairman and chief executive officer. Mr. Clifford regularly consults with media companies and recently assisted WETA-TV, the public broadcasting service for Washington, D.C., in its effort to develop a classical music cable-TV network called Fanfare.

Throughout his career, Mr. Clifford has been an active leader in both professional and civic organizations and he has provided far-reaching philanthropic support, particularly in areas of educational programming and the arts.

A sociology and speech major while at WMU, Ms. Abrams earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. Her career as a news reporter and anchor spans almost 30 years. In April 2004, she joined WCBS-TV (channel 2) in New York City as the co-anchor of both its 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Previously, she had spent 18 years with New York City's WABC-TV. Throughout her career, Ms. Abrams has been part of award-winning coverage for some of the biggest stories of our time, including the September 11 terrorist attacks, the end of Apartheid in South Africa, the Blackout of 2003 and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Prior to moving to New York City in 1986, she was a news anchor with WRON-TV in San Francisco and Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta, where she helped launch CNN.

The recipient of an honorary doctorate from the New York Institute of Technology, she also is active in numerous community and charitable organizations.