Dorrance Smith

Dorrance Smith is Senior Fellow on Global Public Health at the Asia Society Policy Institute, an award-winning network news Executive Producer and served as a senior government official for two Bush administrations — Assistant to the President of Media Affairs under President George HW Bush and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for George W. Bush.

From 1989 until 1991, Smith was the Executive Producer of ABC News 'Nightline', where he was responsible for a weeklong 'Nightline' series originating from South Africa, which covered the release of Nelson Mandela. The broadcasts won an Emmy Award. In addition, he served as executive producer of the prime time special 'Tragedy at Tiananmen-The Untold Story,' which was honored with the DuPont Columbia University Award, the Overseas Press Club Award and an Emmy. 'Nightline' also won an Emmy in 1991 for outstanding news coverage of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Prior to his work on 'Nightline,' he was the Executive Producer of the number one rated Sunday public affairs program, 'This Week with David Brinkley,' a post he held from the program's inception in 1981 until 1989. During his tenure, the broadcast received the first Joan Barone Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, and was named the Best National TV Interview Discussion Program by the readers of the Washington Journalism Review.

From 1974 to 1980, he held a variety of roles at ABC News, including Executive Producer for all weekend news, Washington producer for ABC News' 'The Iran Crises: America Held Hostage' and ABC News White House producer.

He also worked on 5 Winter & Summer Olympic Games for ABC Sports and News — 1972 Munich, 1980 Lake Placid, 1984 Sarajevo & Los Angeles, and the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

Mr. Smith graduated from Claremont Men's College in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.