FAMU alumna and CBS News Senior Producer Kim Godwin will be the keynote speaker for FAMU’s 2011 Summer Commencement. The ceremony is scheduled for Friday, August 5 at 6 p.m. in the Alfred L. Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium.Doors will open for the general public at 5 p.m. and the line of march will commence at 5:30 p.m.
Godwin joined CBS News as senior producer in April 2007. In her current role on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley, she is exclusively in charge of planning future CBS News editorial coverage of day-to-day and major news events, both domestically and internationally, including most recently, the launch of the final Shuttle mission from Kennedy Space Center. In her previous role on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Godwin was in charge of domestic news, overseeing editorial coverage and story production for all CBS bureaus in the United States, excluding Washington, D.C.
Recently, Godwin received a 2010 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast” for her groundbreaking series “Financial Family Tree.” The unique series provided viewers with an in-depth, analytical look at the immediate and long-term ripple effects of the recession.
Prior to CBS News, she worked at WCBS-TV as the assistant news director. At WCBS-TV, Godwin was second in charge of more than 200 staff members, oversaw day-to-day editorial direction and newscast production, and hired all new producers and writers for the station. She also directed and managed news internships and apprentice programs.
Before working at WCBS-TV, Godwin served as interim director for the Division of Journalism in FAMU’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. In that role, while directing the academic programs of the school, she also helped in planning the design of the current journalism facility, which includes two television studios and a multimedia newsroom.
Prior to FAMU, Godwin served as vice president and news director of KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, and vice president of News Operations for NBC Television Stations for Atlanta and New York. Prior to those appointments, she was vice president and news director of KXAS-TV in Dallas; news director for the Duopoly at WOIO-CBS 19 and WUAB-UPN 43 in Cleveland, Ohio; assistant news director for WCAU-TV in Philadelphia; executive producer at WNBC-TV in New York; news producer for WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh, Penn.; anchor, investigative reporter and producer for WPTV-TV, West Palm Beach, Fla.; and executive producer of WTXL-TV in Tallahassee.
Godwin began her career as a midday disc jockey and evening news anchor for WAMF-AM at FAMU, and moved on to be a news writer for the morning drive at WTNT-AM in Tallahassee.
She is the recipient of two New York Association of Black Journalists Awards for producing “Conquering Cancer” and “The Changing Face of AIDS.” She also received an Emmy nomination for “Conquering Cancer.” In her prestigious career, she has won numerous awards for excellence in journalism, including a Los Angeles area Emmy for Investigative Journalism for the report “One Gun,” in which one handgun was linked to multiple violent and deadly crimes.
Godwin was born in Panama City, Fla. but grew up in Queens, New York. She graduated from FAMU with a bachelor of science degree in broadcast journalism. Godwin currently resides in New York City and in the Poconos, Penn. with her two children Kimberly and Kirsten.
Photo: Godwin at the FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communication 35th Anniversary during Homecoming 2009.