TV journalist Harry Smith returns to Central College to teach

Central College will use an investment from Pella-based company PPI to explore curriculum on “decision science.” (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

by Brooklyn Draisey, Iowa Capital Dispatch
March 29, 2024

NBC News said goodbye to Harry Smith this week as the veteran journalist prepares to teach college students about “curiosity” at his alma mater, Central College.

A 1973 alum, Smith earned his B.A. in communications and theater from Central College, according to NBC News. He announced after his last NBC Nightly News broadcast Thursday that he would return to Pella to teach at Central College this fall as an executive in residence.

“And I might write a book or two, we’ll see,” Smith said Friday on “Today.”

Called “one of TV’s most distinguished journalists” by NBC, Smith has served as an NBC correspondent since 2011, when he joined “Rock Center” with Brian Williams. He got his start more than 30 years ago on radio stations in Denver and Cincinnati before shifting to television journalism with the Denver CBS affiliate, KMGH-TV.

Smith became a CBS news reporter in 1986 and a correspondent in 1987 and hosted “CBS This Morning” and “The Early Show,” as well as serving on “CBS Evening News,” “Face the Nation” and “CBS News Sunday Morning” as a substitute anchor.

“I’ve had just this unbelievable array of phenomenal experiences since coming to NBC, Smith said on Today, “and so I’m really full of nothing but gratitude.”

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