Hansen Tells of His Rise to Fame
By KIMBERLY MARCOTT WEINBERG
Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
BRADFORD, Pa. – NBC “Dateline” correspondent Chris Hansen told graduates of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Sunday about his own beginnings and “lucky breaks” and that success is about working hard and making the most of circumstances.
Hansen addressed the 229 graduates as the keynote speaker for the university’s commencement ceremonies held in the Sport and Fitness Center arena.
Hansen is most well-known for his NBC “Dateline” specials, “To Catch a Predator,” in which he works with an organization called Perverted Justice to expose pedophiles who plan to have sex with children they meet online.
He said that the idea for the show came from a conversation he had with a friend who was familiar with Perverted Justice, an online watchdog group. The organization has members who pose as teens in chat rooms in order to catch sexual predators looking to have sex with minors.
Hansen said he thought that combining the decoys’ activity with hidden camera technology could make for a good investigative piece as well as compelling television. He pitched the idea to NBC executives, who agreed to let him try it.
The first sting, he said, was on Long Island. As he drove in heavy traffic to the house that had been rented, he worried that no one would show up and that he had wasted tens of thousands of NBC’s dollars. While he was caught in traffic, however, a panicked crew called him to ask where he was: two predators had aleady agreed to show up in 45 minutes.
Conceiving and executing the popular television series was just the latest in a string of lucky breaks that Hansen made the most of.
When he was in college, he told the crowd of about a thousand people, he was working at the campus radio station during the school year and installing drywall during the summer. The latter job paid $7.50 an hour – enough to pay for half his tuition. His father objected, he said, when he wanted to apply for a job as a part-time radio reporter in Lansing, Mich., because the job paid only $3.50 per hour.
Hansen applied for and took the job at the station, which was also a television affiliate. He said was desperate to be on television, but “I tried out and I stunk.”
When the anchorman at the station was hired at a rival station as anchorman and news director, Hansen “got him out one night for a drink” and convinced him to hire him as a part-time television reporter. That job became full-time when he graduated from college.
“The two hardest things in your life can be getting your first job and getting out of your first job,” he said, telling graduates that he sent out miles of tape and stacks of letters looking for a job at a larger station.
In another fortunate twist for Hansen, a neighbor whose lawn he had mowed became the station manager of the NBC affiliate in Tampa, Fla. Hansen was hired to work at the affiliate’s smaller Jacksonville station, but was supposed to train for a month first in Tampa.
He spent that time working 12 hours a day because, he explained, after he had picked up his dry cleaning, his non-work responsibilities for the day were through.
“When you’re young, your job is to work hard,” he said, encouraging graduates to do so while their responsibilities are fewer than they will be later on. “Now is the time to get out there. Now is the time to work hard and establish that reputation.”
Also addressing the graduates was Harvey L. Golubock, president and chief operating officer of American Refining Group. Both he and ARG’s board chairman and owner Harry R. Halloran Jr. were awarded the Presidential Medal of Distinction by Dr. Livingston Alexander, president. Halloran was unable to attend the ceremony.
“As representatives for ARG and as individuals, Mr. Halloran and Mr. Golubock are among our strongest supporters,” Alexander said. “Their gifts of property and funding for scholarships and energy-related projects will enable us to make college more affordable for our students and position our institution to better serve the workforce and knowledge needs of the bustling oil and gas industries.”
Golubock has also served on Pitt-Bradford’s Advisory Board since 1998 and is a member of its Executive Committee.
He gave much of the credit for the Presidential Medals to ARG’s employees.
“There’s this whole support network,” he said. “We have people at ARG – 325 of them -- who are truly deserving of this award.”
“Receiving this award will be an honor that I will long cherish,” he said.
Pitt-Bradford presents the Presidential Medal of Distinction to a person who has either volunteered his or her time for several years; supported the university either financially or with expertise or advice; served the university’s service region through community, government or business affiliation; or has made distinctive achievements in his or her field that have affected Pitt-Bradford.
Previous medal winners are Madeline Miles, Judge John M. Cleland, Dr. Richard E. McDowell, Dennis Lowery, Edwin Clemens, Marilyn Horne, Howard Fesenmyer, Henry P. Pruch, Robert D. Galey, Lester Rice, William F. Higie, Samuel Gregg Jr., Dr. Robert C. Laing, Hariett B. Wick, Sarah B. Dorn, U.S. Rep. John E. Peterson, Virginia L. Miles and Dr. Robert B. Bromeley.
Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
BRADFORD, Pa. – NBC “Dateline” correspondent Chris Hansen told graduates of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Sunday about his own beginnings and “lucky breaks” and that success is about working hard and making the most of circumstances.
Hansen addressed the 229 graduates as the keynote speaker for the university’s commencement ceremonies held in the Sport and Fitness Center arena.
Hansen is most well-known for his NBC “Dateline” specials, “To Catch a Predator,” in which he works with an organization called Perverted Justice to expose pedophiles who plan to have sex with children they meet online.
He said that the idea for the show came from a conversation he had with a friend who was familiar with Perverted Justice, an online watchdog group. The organization has members who pose as teens in chat rooms in order to catch sexual predators looking to have sex with minors.
Hansen said he thought that combining the decoys’ activity with hidden camera technology could make for a good investigative piece as well as compelling television. He pitched the idea to NBC executives, who agreed to let him try it.
The first sting, he said, was on Long Island. As he drove in heavy traffic to the house that had been rented, he worried that no one would show up and that he had wasted tens of thousands of NBC’s dollars. While he was caught in traffic, however, a panicked crew called him to ask where he was: two predators had aleady agreed to show up in 45 minutes.
Conceiving and executing the popular television series was just the latest in a string of lucky breaks that Hansen made the most of.
When he was in college, he told the crowd of about a thousand people, he was working at the campus radio station during the school year and installing drywall during the summer. The latter job paid $7.50 an hour – enough to pay for half his tuition. His father objected, he said, when he wanted to apply for a job as a part-time radio reporter in Lansing, Mich., because the job paid only $3.50 per hour.
Hansen applied for and took the job at the station, which was also a television affiliate. He said was desperate to be on television, but “I tried out and I stunk.”
When the anchorman at the station was hired at a rival station as anchorman and news director, Hansen “got him out one night for a drink” and convinced him to hire him as a part-time television reporter. That job became full-time when he graduated from college.
“The two hardest things in your life can be getting your first job and getting out of your first job,” he said, telling graduates that he sent out miles of tape and stacks of letters looking for a job at a larger station.
In another fortunate twist for Hansen, a neighbor whose lawn he had mowed became the station manager of the NBC affiliate in Tampa, Fla. Hansen was hired to work at the affiliate’s smaller Jacksonville station, but was supposed to train for a month first in Tampa.
He spent that time working 12 hours a day because, he explained, after he had picked up his dry cleaning, his non-work responsibilities for the day were through.
“When you’re young, your job is to work hard,” he said, encouraging graduates to do so while their responsibilities are fewer than they will be later on. “Now is the time to get out there. Now is the time to work hard and establish that reputation.”
Also addressing the graduates was Harvey L. Golubock, president and chief operating officer of American Refining Group. Both he and ARG’s board chairman and owner Harry R. Halloran Jr. were awarded the Presidential Medal of Distinction by Dr. Livingston Alexander, president. Halloran was unable to attend the ceremony.
“As representatives for ARG and as individuals, Mr. Halloran and Mr. Golubock are among our strongest supporters,” Alexander said. “Their gifts of property and funding for scholarships and energy-related projects will enable us to make college more affordable for our students and position our institution to better serve the workforce and knowledge needs of the bustling oil and gas industries.”
Golubock has also served on Pitt-Bradford’s Advisory Board since 1998 and is a member of its Executive Committee.
He gave much of the credit for the Presidential Medals to ARG’s employees.
“There’s this whole support network,” he said. “We have people at ARG – 325 of them -- who are truly deserving of this award.”
“Receiving this award will be an honor that I will long cherish,” he said.
Pitt-Bradford presents the Presidential Medal of Distinction to a person who has either volunteered his or her time for several years; supported the university either financially or with expertise or advice; served the university’s service region through community, government or business affiliation; or has made distinctive achievements in his or her field that have affected Pitt-Bradford.
Previous medal winners are Madeline Miles, Judge John M. Cleland, Dr. Richard E. McDowell, Dennis Lowery, Edwin Clemens, Marilyn Horne, Howard Fesenmyer, Henry P. Pruch, Robert D. Galey, Lester Rice, William F. Higie, Samuel Gregg Jr., Dr. Robert C. Laing, Hariett B. Wick, Sarah B. Dorn, U.S. Rep. John E. Peterson, Virginia L. Miles and Dr. Robert B. Bromeley.
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