Bob Dotson

Robert Charles "Bob" Dotson (born October 3, 1946) is a New York Times best selling American author, (1) teacher and television journalist. His long running series, "The American Story with Bob Dotson," was a regular feature on the NBC "Today" Show for 40 years. (2)(3)

Dotson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Dottie Bailey, a singer who performed on NBC radio (5) and Bill Dotson, a janitor who dropped out of school in fifth grade, but attended night classes for 23 years, and later earned an honorary master's degree in Ophthalmics for his study of the eye. (6) The morning of his second birthday, he awoke to discover he could not stand or walk. The family doctor diagnosed polio. Twenty thousand children would fall victim during the epidemic of 1948. (7) Determined he would walk again, Dotson's mother drove him to rehab three days a week for years. His cast left scars still visible, but he learned to walk normally again.

Bob and his wife, Linda, live in New York City and Mystic, Connecticut. They married on July 1, 1972, and had a daughter. (8)

In 1969 Dotson earned a Master of Science degree in television and film from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY (9)

In 1968 Dotson received a Bachelor of Science in journalism and political science from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (10)

In 1964 Dotson graduated from Webster Groves High School in Webster Groves, Missouri.

In June 2016 Dotson joined the faculty at the Newhouse School, Syracuse University, NY (12)

On October 23, 2015 Dotson left NBC News, 40 years to the day he was hired in 1975. (14) His "American Story" series became one of the most honored in network television history, winning more than 100 national and international awards. (4)

On October 15, 2015 Rowman & Littlefield published the second edition of Dotson's journalism textbook, Make it Memorable, an update for the digital age. (16) The book hit number one on the Amazon hot list. (17)

On October 5, 2015 Dotson became a visiting professor at Regents University, London, and Webster University, Leiden, The Netherlands (18)

In September 2015 Dotson served as the first Stembler Visiting Professional at the School of Media and Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (19)

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