Rob Johnson

Robert S. Johnson (born April 1, 1968) is the principal news anchor at WBBM-TV in Chicago.

Early life and education

Johnson earned a bachelor's degree from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana in 1990.^[1] He is an outstanding member of DePauw's Lambda Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

Professional career

Rob Johnson is the principal news anchor of WBBM-CBS 2 in Chicago. He joined CBS 2 in August 2006 from WLS-TV where he had worked since 1998 as weekend anchor and reporter. He co-anchors the 5:00 pm and 10:00 pm news effective September 13, 2010 with Kate Sullivan.

Johnson has covered numerous major news events in recent years - from Chicago to New Orleans, to Honduras. He anchored and reported from New Hampshire, Texas and Pennsylvania during the 2008 Presidential primaries. In 2007, Johnson traveled to Germany to cover Illinois Lt. Governor Pat Quinn's visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to meet with wounded soldiers during the holiday season. Earlier that year, Johnson reported extensively on the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl run in Miami, including live reports from South Florida during Super Bowl week.

In 2005, Johnson reported from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The year prior Johnson covered John Kerry's defeat in the 2004 Presidential election from Boston. During his career, Johnson has been at the scene of other breaking stories from Hurricane Andrew to the Centennial Park Bombing during the Atlanta Olympics, to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in Houston. Johnson has also covered Papal visits to Denver and St. Louis, and has reported from the countries of Haiti, Mexico, and Honduras.

Before moving to Chicago, Johnson worked at KPRC-TV in Houston, Texas as an anchor and reporter. Prior to that, Johnson worked as an anchor and reporter at stations in Arkansas and Louisiana. Rob began his broadcasting career as a newsroom intern at CNN in Washington, D.C.

On October 19, 1998, Johnson joined WLS-TV in Chicago as a weekend news anchor and general assignment reporter. After a five-year deal at WLS concluded in 2003, Johnson renewed with the station for another three years.

In June 2006, Johnson chose not to renew his contract with WLS-TV. In August 2006, however, he wound up joining WBBM-TV as a 5 p.m. news anchor and as a general assignment reporter on the station's 10 p.m. newscast. In June 2007, WBBM-TV promoted Johnson to be its 10 p.m. news anchor. He was made solo anchor of the 10pm newscast in April 2009, and since then that newscast has seen its biggest ratings growth in more than 20 years.

Awards

Johnson has won five Emmy Awards, including one in 2008 for anchoring the station's breaking news coverage of the NIU shootings. He has also garnered awards from the Chicago Headline Club, Associated Press, Houston Press Club, the Society for Professional Journalists, Illinois National Guard, Belle Center of Chicago, and Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.

Personal

Johnson serves on the Board of Directors for the Brain Research Foundation, and is an Honorary Board Member of the H Foundation. He also dedicates much of his personal time to organizations that support people with disabilities. In his spare time he enjoys golfing, skiing, and ice hockey.

Johnson, his wife, and son live in Hinsdale, Illinois.

References

External links

• WBBM-TV Profile