CHICAGO
2024
wATCH the CEREMONY
BOB KENNEDY
At age five, Bob Kennedy tried to figure out how he could be on the radio. “Could he crawl inside it?” he asked. Maybe!
Long before television, he knew where he was going. Years later in an interview, he said, “That moment was a direct line
to my career. I never wavered.”
In 1955, he earned a degree in radio and television from Fordham University. That same year, NBC Radio premiered its
news magazine series: Monitor. It was Bob’s kind of show, but he needed to find a way to get in the door. With a fake
NBC envelope tucked under his arm, he simply walked by the guards at 30 Rock to get an interview. It payed off. During
his service in the U.S. Air Force, Bob filed many stories for Monitor from wherever he was stationed. In Houston, he also
worked as a television news anchor at KTRK. His commanding officer once asked Lt. Kennedy why his face was so
familiar. Bob merely shrugged.
As a civilian, Bob joined the Capital Cities station in Albany, New York, WROW, where he did it all: anchoring news and
fronting commercials. That was where he met and married Bev Bianco, head of the production department.
Next stop: WBZ Boston where he hosted two highly-rated TV and radio talk shows a day—and the annual National
Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. Bob’s younger brother had succumbed to the disease. For the rest of his life, Bob
labored tirelessly for MDA.
At Chicago’s ABC 7 in the early 1970s, Bob had another challenging schedule. He hosted Kennedy & Co. in the morning
and Kennedy at Night at midnight, along with dozens of television/radio commercials and a college quiz show.
Bob died in 1974 as he was about to move to New York to anchor AM America, ABC Television Network’s new morning
show. The Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences posthumously recognized him with
its highest honor – The Governors’ Award.
Bob is survived by his widow, Bev (a former member of the Chicago and National NATAS boards and two-time Emmy®
Award winner), his daughters Liz, a clinical psychologist, and Suzanne (three-time Emmy®-Award-winner in D.C.), and
five grandchildren.
DIANA MALDONADO
Diana Maldonado is a broadcast and content executive who specializes in multi-platform strategic planning, coaching,
content development and driving innovation in media. She has devoted more than 25 years to the television industry, most recently as vice president of news for WSNS Telemundo Chicago. For 10 years, Diana served as News Director for
the Spanish-language station and during her time there she helped increase hours of local news coverage, expand the
size of the staff, and diligently coach the station’s award-winning journalism team.
Diana implemented competitive strategies for breaking news and special coverage. Her dedication and vision over the
years was key in successfully transitioning to a multi-platform content-producing model. In 2015, for the first time in
the station’s history, Telemundo Chicago reached the #1 spot in Spanish language news. Since then, she and the news
team continued to perform at the highest levels in the Chicago market regardless of language.
Prior to returning to local news, Diana was an Executive Producer at the national level with the Telemundo Network in
Florida. During that 8-year run, she produced live news, breaking news, election coverage and specials. She was
instrumental in producing coverage for impactful events including the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Iraq war, Pope John
Paul II’s 25th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Greece.
Diana is a 14-time Chicago/Midwest Emmy®-Award-winning producer and her most treasured work is telling stories of
people’s lives. She will never forget these impactful stories and the lasting emotions they have evoked.
Beginning her career in her hometown, Diana’s first break in broadcast news was an internship at WGBO Univision
Chicago. Her demonstrated passion for the craft, her potential and hard work landed her a full-time job before her
internship ended. She was later promoted to show producer.
Born and raised in Chicago, Diana is fluent in English and Spanish and has served others through various projects in
underprivileged areas. She is currently a board member for The Puerto Rican Arts Alliance as well as treasurer and
board member of Mission of the Valley Church. Diana is a former board member of Girls in the Game and also served
on the NBCU Local Diversity and Inclusion Council, where she was the Chair of the News Content & Context Committee.
Steven Novak
Steven Novak’s career began in 1976 at WGN Radio as a radio logger -- one who listened to on-air broadcasts and
logged whether or not commercials ran correctly. The following year, he moved to the TV Film Department where he
managed a library of 2,500 films for air and scheduled episodic shows. Steve was promoted to Assistant Director in
the Production Department in 1979 where he worked on various news programs and floor directed shows including
Donahue, Bozo and At the Movies.
From 1984-1993, Steve worked at Telemation Productions, a video production company where he wrote, produced and
directed corporate videos, live programming and commercials including more than 200 Empire Carpet spots with the
iconic Lynn Hauldren, the Empire Carpet Man and recent posthumous Silver Circle honoree. After working on a 27-part
series on a math textbook, he calculated that it was time to go back to broadcast television.
Since 1993, he has been a Producer/Director at WGN, working on virtually every show the station has aired including
newscasts, Bozo, Cubs, Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Arena Football games. Steve has produced and/or directed more
than 30 years of MDA Telethons including producing national segments. He spent 14 years working on the Magnificent
Mile Lights Festival telecasts, produced and/or directed the Columbus Day and St. Patrick’s Day parades, Evening of
Stars specials, as well as Easter Seals Telethons. Steve also worked on Family Classics, Man of the People and wrote/
directed/produced WGN’s 60th and 70th anniversary specials.
In 2020, Steve spent time as part of the team that launched NewsNation, Nexstar’s 24 hour cable news channel. He
directed the very first hour of that endeavor. Most recently, Steve has been working on the lifestyle show Daytime
Chicago, helping get it off the ground.
In addition to this Silver Circle induction, he recently earned the Governors’ Award from the Chicago/Midwest Chapter
of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for his professional excellence in television and his devoted
service to the chapter. His contributions include several years as president and vice president of the Chicago/Midwest
Chapter’s Board of Governors, four terms as a national trustee, and membership on the NATAS Chicago Foundation
board, which oversees scholarship giving.
CINDY PATRASSO
Cindy Patrasso is a 5-time Chicago/Midwest Emmy®-Award-winning broadcast television veteran and former
Supervising Producer for ABC 7 Chicago’s popular morning television program, Windy City LIVE. Cindy was part of the
team responsible for its successful launch and growth as Chicago’s #1 morning television show.
Her extensive
background in producing daytime television talk began in her early career, as Creative Marketing Director for the
ground-breaking, nationally syndicated DONAHUE program.
Her storied career included 10 years in sports television, as VP/Executive Producer for INTERSPORT Television, where
she supervised the development and production of live events for ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX Sports. Cindy is
responsible for the exclusive footage capturing the attack of famed Olympic figure skater, Nancy Kerrigan, which
spawned the 1994 NBC Network Primetime Special, Shattered Glory: The Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan Story. She
served as Executive Producer for the special, the story-behind-the-story, of the days surrounding her INTERSPORT team
being the only camera crew on the scene when the attack occurred. The international flurry of interest in the bizarre and
historic figure skating rivalry gave rise to the skate-off between Nancy and Tonya becoming the highest rated Olympic
moment in history.
Cindy got her start at WGN-TV, where she served as the station’s Promotion Manager. She counts herself lucky that the
shows and projects with which she was associated, over the years, gave her the opportunity to work at every station in
Chicago, growing great friendships along the way. Her time as a broadcasting executive included her role as President
of the Orbis Broadcast Group and Vice President of Programming and Production for Dillon Smith Communications.
Cindy’s work with journalist Ken Wooden, founder of “Child Lures Prevention,” when she served as Midwest
Representative for the effort to protect children from predator abduction and the implementation of its Illinois schools
program and the NBC 5’s regional Emmy®-Award-winning town hall event, was one of her proudest associations. So
was her leadership role in fundraising events for the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and the DEA’s “Lives Lost to
Drugs” travel museum.
A native Chicagoan, Cindy is currently President of CP and CO, a production and consulting firm, providing media,
messaging, marketing and event strategy; operations and liaison services, where her extensive experience is valued.
JOHN M. QUIÑONES
ABC News correspondent John Quiñones reports for 20/20, Nightline and Good Morning America. In the 1980s, he spent
nearly a decade in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama, reporting for World News Tonight. And during
John’s 40-year tenure at ABC News, he has reported for all programs and platforms and served as anchor of Primetime and
What Would You Do? Recently, John has been on the frontlines of ABC News’ Uvalde: 365 series, reporting from Texas on the
aftermath of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary.
For 20/20, he reported extensively on Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen, who was brutally murdered and sparked a #MeToo
movement in the military. Following his reporting, the U.S. military made major changes in how they handle sexual
harassment cases and Congress passed the “I Am Vanessa Guillen” bill.
Covering the 2010 Chilean miners’ disaster, John was the first journalist out of thousands to get an exclusive interview with
the first survivor, Mario Sepulveda. His other work included undercover hidden camera reports revealing how clinics
performed unnecessary surgical procedures as part of a nationwide insurance scam; following a group of would-be Mexican
immigrants as they attempted to cross into the U.S. via the treacherous route known as “The Devil’s Highway;” and traveling
to Israel for a CINE-Award-winning report about suicide bombers.
In 1999, John anchored Latin Beat, a critically acclaimed ABC News special which earned him an ALMA Award from the
National Council of La Raza. He also contributed reports to ABC’ News unprecedented 24-hour, live, global The New
Millennium broadcast, which won the George Foster Peabody Award. John won a Gabriel Award and several national Emmy®
Awards, including one for his work on the ABC documentary Burning Questions—The Poisoning of America.
His many recognitions include: Lifetime Achievement Award from MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund), Society of Professional Journalists’ “Fellow of the Society,” National Association of Hispanic Journalists’
President’s Award for Journalism, RTDNA’s John F. Hogan Award for national and international reporting; and First Prize in
International Reporting and Robert F. Kennedy Prize for his piece, Modern Slavery — Children Sugar Cane Cutters in the
Dominican Republic.
John received a Bachelor of Arts in speech communications from St. Mary’s University (Texas) and a Master’s Degree from
the Columbia School of Journalism (New York). Right out of college, he landed a job as a reporter at WBBM-TV in Chicago
where he won two local Emmy® Awards during a three-year stint before joining ABC News in 1982.
DEAN REYNOLDS
Dean Reynolds was born Aug. 17, 1948 in East Chicago, Indiana. He grew up in Munster, Indiana, the oldest of five boys.
Dean graduated from Walter Johnson H.S. in Bethesda, Maryland, after his family moved to the Washington D.C. area
when his father, Frank Reynolds, became White House correspondent for ABC News.
Dean graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indian before moving back to the D.C. area to join United Press
International as a copy boy in 1971. He worked for UPI for 11 years, reporting on the assassination attempts on Gov.
George Wallace in 1972 and President Ronald Reagan in 1981 (while his dad, Frank, was anchoring ABC’s coverage). By
then, Dean had become the UPI White House correspondent.
In 1982, Dean was hired as CNN’s White House correspondent. Two years later, he joined the ABC News Washington
bureau and, in 1985, accepted a position as foreign correspondent based in London. Dean was sent to Moscow as a
vacation relief correspondent when the nuclear accident at Chernobyl occurred. His reporting on that disaster led to his
posting in Israel, where Dean covered the Palestinian uprising, the first Gulf War, the mass immigration of Russian Jews
to Israel, the trial of accused war criminal John Demjanjuk and much more. He spent nearly nine years in the Middle
East, but also covered stories in Asia and Africa.
Dean married Israeli native Yael Cohen in 1992 and their first child, Danny, was born the next year. In 1995, Dean
returned to the United States, settling in Dallas as a National Correspondent for ABC News. Two more children were
born in Dallas, Sean and Erin. It was from Dallas that Dean covered the Oklahoma City bombing as well as the trial and
execution of bomber Timothy McVeigh.
In 1998, Dean and his family moved to Highland Park, Illinois, where his last child, Maya, was born. During his time with
the ABC News Chicago Bureau, he covered the Bush and Kerry presidential campaigns.
In 2007, Dean left ABC for CBS News and, working out of its Chicago Bureau, covered the presidential campaign of a
long shot named Barack Obama. Countless stories about big snowfalls, hot summers, the price of gas and a bevy of
features followed. In 2020, Dean joined Chicago-based NewsNation as chief political correspondent for the 2020 race
between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Dean retired in 2021, 50 years after his first job as a copy boy at UPI.
FRANK REYNOLDS
Frank Reynolds was born Nov. 29, 1923 to Helen and Frank Reynolds in East Chicago, Indiana. He had three sisters. A
star quarterback for what was then Catholic Central in Hammond, Frank graduated with honors and enrolled at Wabash
College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
His college career was short-lived when, at the age of 19, he was drafted to serve in World War II. Within a year, he was
in England, preparing to follow the first wave of American soldiers who landed at Normandy. By then he was in General
George Patton's Third Army Group which fought in France, Belgium and Germany. Frank fought in the Battle of the Bulge
and was wounded in the leg by Nazi gunfire in the town of Kassel, Germany for which he received the Purple Heart
Medal.
After the war, Frank married a high school classmate, Henrietta Harpster. The couple had five children, all boys: Dean,
James, John, Robert and Thomas. James passed away in 2008.
Frank began his broadcast career at WJOB in Hammond, broadcasting sports, news and anything else he was asked to
cover. He worked briefly for WIND in Chicago before making the transition to television at what was then WBKB, later
WLS. After a few years at WBKB, Frank left to join WBBM and to anchor various broadcasts, as well as report for the
CBS Evening News with Douglas Edwards.
In the early 1960s, he returned to Channel 7 as an anchor. He caught the attention of ABC News in New York which, in
1965, offered him the job of White House correspondent during Lyndon Johnson's presidency. Within a couple of years,
Frank was in New York anchoring the ABC Evening News, having inherited that job from Peter Jennings.
He left the anchor chair in 1971 to cover national politics, including the 1972 George McGovern campaign and Ronald
Reagan’s 1976 primary challenge to President Gerald Ford. Two years later, Frank was back in the anchor chair as the
primary anchor, along with Peter Jennings and Max Robinson, for a revamped World News Tonight.
Frank often referred to his career as "Lazarus-like" because of how many times he rose from career death. Tragically he
was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1978. He lived and worked five more years at the anchor desk, most
memorably covering the assassination attempt on President Reagan in March of 1981. Frank Reynolds passed away
July 20, 1983 at the age of 59.
MARK SUPPELSA
Recruited by NBC 5 back to the metro where he was raised, Mark Suppelsa began his career in Chicago television and
radio in 1993. He moved from weekend anchor/reporter to weekday early evening anchor/reporter in his 10 years there.
In 2003, he jumped at the chance to become lead co-anchor at Fox 32 where he continued reporting as well. Mark
created dozens of investigative and hard news pieces that became his calling card: an anchor who reported.
By 2008, WGN-TV enticed Mark to join its team as main co-anchor and the promise of reviving the WGN Investigates
unit. He spent his final 10 years doing both, capping off his career which garnered nearly a dozen Chicago/Midwest
Emmy® Awards for investigative reporting. WGN Investigates continues this legacy today.
Over his 25 years in Chicago, several of Mark’s investigative reports had serious impact. Mark’s stories on banks, law
firms and accounting companies tossing clients’ private documents into open dumpsters led to changes in company
policy on discarding sensitive information. His interviews exposed cracks in the vaunted ‘Chicago Way of Politics at
City Hall’. This included one with a Daley administration lawyer named Lori Lightfoot. Another explosive one featured a
City-Hall-connected landlord and Daley donor who had a fatal fire in one of his lucrative rental buildings.
At WGN, Mark broke the story of a north suburban cop who committed suicide over embezzlement, but tried setting it
up as an unexplained murder. Perhaps his most prized investigation was “The Pension Games” series. He and
investigative producer, Marsha Bartel, exposed union leaders tight with City Hall, illegally drawing multiple lucrative
pensions off the backs of taxpayers. The Chicago/Midwest Emmy® it was awarded remains the one statuette Mark has
kept in retirement.
His anchor duties were vast, including the coverage of national political conventions including the 1996 Democratic
Convention in Chicago. Mark also hosted coverage of landmark sports events including the Bears Super Bowl, the
Olympics, the 1990s’ Bulls dynasty and the championship runs of the Cubs, White Sox and Blackhawks. In addition to
his television duties, Mark could also be heard as a regular on the #1 rated Eric & Kathy Show on 101.9-FM and on 720-
WGN.
His first full-time TV news position out of Marquette University was at Green Bay’s WFRV. He also spent 7 years in St.
Paul.