Bill Kurtis to give keynote address at Meat Industry Hall of Fame ceremony

The Meat Industry Hall of Fame has announced that Bill Kurtis, an acclaimed documentary host and producer, network and major market news anchor, and multimedia production company president, will return as the Keynote speaker for the third annual induction ceremony and dinner at the Union League Club of Chicago on November 1. Kurtis was the keynote speaker at the inaugural ceremony in 2009.

Kurtis began his television career at WIBW-TV (CBS) in Topeka, Kansas. In 1966, after being recognized for his 24-hour coverage of a devastating tornado, Kurtis was hired by WBBM-TV in Chicago where he was a field reporter and later anchor of The Channel Two News. Kurtis moved on to the network level at CBS where he anchored the CBS Morning News and contributed to CBS Reports.

Returning to Chicago and WBBM-TV as news anchor in 1985, Kurtis began his career as a documentarian, traveling to the far ends of the earth for the Peabody Award-winning series The New Explorers, which aired on A&E. In 1990, he began producing programs for the A&E Network, including the long-running, award-winning Investigative Reports and Cold Case Files as well as Investigating History for The History Channel. Kurtis has also served as the host of A&E's American Justice – the longest running non-fiction justice series on cable.

In his home state of Kansas, Kurtis is a rancher, radio station owner, art gallery owner, small businessman, supporter of small-town America, and an active conservationist. His 10,000-acre Red Buffalo Ranch is a working cattle ranch, raising and marketing organic grass-fed beef. The ranch is located in the last section of North America to enjoy untouched tall grass prairie, a personal point of pride for Kurtis.

Kurtis is the recipient of numerous humanitarian, journalism, and broadcasting awards including Emmys, CableACE Awards, and the Thurgood Marshall Award for his Investigative Reports installment on the death penalty. He is a published author and a member of the board of directors of several distinguished organizations including The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Foundation, and the Field Museum of Chicago.

Dinner tickets and special sponsorship packages are still available. For more information, contact Hall of Fame President Chuck Jolley at chuckj@MeatIndustryHallofFame.com or (913) 205-3791.

Source: Meat Industry Hall of Fame

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