Jack Ford

Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist, respected educator, award-winning documentary and film producer, prominent trial attorney and best-selling author, Jack Ford has had a unique and remarkably successful career. Raised by a single parent, his journey has taken him from a small town in New Jersey to Yale University, where he was a scholarship student and three-year starter on the varsity football team, to the Fordham University School of Law, where he helped finance his legal education with winnings from three appearances on the television quiz show “Jeopardy,” to courtrooms and classrooms throughout the country, and ultimately to the upper echelons of television journalism.

Currently a host of “Metro Focus” on PBS (WNET-New York) and most recently a CBS News Correspondent for “60 Minutes Sports,” he was also the Co-Founder and Chief Anchor of the digital network American Ed TV. Ford began his television news career in 1984 as a legal analyst with WCBS-TV in New York. In 1991, he was an original anchor at the launch of Court TV. He also appeared in Fred Friendly’s award-winning PBS Media and Society broadcasts, serving as Moderator for “That Delicate Balance II: The Bill of Rights.”

In 1994, Ford joined NBC News as Chief Legal Correspondent, reporting on major legal stories for NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and Dateline. In addition, he was the co-anchor for the Weekend Today Show and a substitute anchor for Weekend Nightly News and Meet the Press. Ford joined ABC News in 1999 as an Anchor/Correspondent for 20/20, Good Morning America, and World News Tonight. In 2002, he anchored the ESPN show, The Sports Reporters II. During 2003-2004, he co-hosted a nationally syndicated talk show for CBS TV/King World before returning to Court TV in 2005 as the Host of “Courtside.” From 2009-2014, he served as a CBS News Legal Analyst. He has also provided college football game analysis for ESPN, the Yes Network, and the American Sports Network.

Prior to embarking on his journalism career, Ford was a prosecutor in New Jersey before entering private practice. He became a prominent trial attorney, successfully handling such high-profile cases as the Northeast’s first death penalty trial, one of the nation’s first corporate homicide trials, and the Wall Street insider trading scandal of the late 1980s. During his legal career, he served as an Adjunct Professor at the Fordham University School of Law. He has been a Visiting Lecturer at Yale University since 2007, and has also taught at New York University, Monmouth University, and the University of Virginia. In 2017, he served as a Lead Scholar for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and also speaks frequently at colleges and universities, nationally and internationally. He is the author of three novels: “The Osiris Alliance” (2009); “The Walls of Jericho” (2013); and “Chariot on the Mountain” (2018).

Ford’s television journalism work has been recognized with several honors, including three Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, three National Cable Television Awards, an MCCJ National Headliner Award, and the March of Dimes FDR Award. In 1997, he received an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, which is presented to former outstanding college athletes who have achieved distinction in their professional lives. In 1998, Ford was honored with a “National Father of the Year Award,” and in 2009 he was a recipient of Yale University’s highest athletic honor, the “George H.W. Bush Lifetime of Leadership Award.” And in a somewhat unusual accolade, he was named People Magazine’s “Sexiest News Anchor” in 1999.

Ford has been awarded seven honorary degrees, recognizing his professional accomplishments and his extensive public service work. He has served as spokesperson, host and/or board member for several charitable causes and organizations, including the Cancer Support Community, the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (North Jersey chapter), the Alzheimer’s Association, the N.J. Special Olympics, the Garden State Film Festival, the Jimmy V Foundation, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame (Vice-Chair), the Ivy League Football Association, the NCAA Honors Committee, Meridian Health System, Monmouth University, and Yale University.

Ford resides in Spring Lake, N.J., with his wife, Dorothy. They have two children, Dr. Ashley Ford Haggerty and Colin Ford.

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