POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (April 6, 2017)  – American news personality, NCAA ambassador, and former Yale ’72 defensive back Jack Ford led a conversation about college athletics on a recent day-long visit to campus. 

"Jack’s experiences are quite relatable for our students and athletes on campus," said Dr. Keith Strudler, Director of the Marist Center for Sports Communication. "Marist was very fortunate to be able to host Jack Ford for a thoughtful conversation about the NCAA. We were able to debate multiple current topics."

Ford is traveling on behalf of the NCAA to exchange ideas about the state of college sports, helping NCAA officials to better understand the needs of campus communities while also helping to articulate the mission and goals of the organization. He also spoke on the high value athletics has on a college campus and the how it can transform the college experience for students.

Ford has a long list of accomplishments in both the media and sports worlds. Ford attended and played football at Yale University, moving to defense from his high school days playing quarterback. He later received a law degree from Fordham University. After serving as a highly successful lawyer, he moved to the world of broadcast journalism and became a news anchor for WCBS-TV in New York.

Ford later served in a variety of roles at the highest echelons of broadcast journalism, including his role as the weekend anchor of NBC’s Today Show and the host of ESPN’s Sports Reporters II. Currently, in addition to his work with the NCAA, Ford serves as a legal analyst for CBS News, a correspondent for 60 Minutes Sports, and hosts the New York based TV news magazine program MetroFocus for WNET.