featuring
Hannah Storm
Honorary Chairs Larry Dierker and Marjorie Evans

Friday, May 1, 2009
Minute Maid Park
7:05 p.m.

Hannah Storm – a trailblazing and award-winning sports and newscaster for the last 19 years with CNN, NBC and CBS – joined ESPN in 2008 as a host for the new live weekday morning SportsCenter, which debuted in August.

Storm comes to ESPN from CBS News after five years (2002 – 2007) as a host of The Early Show, covering numerous major news events, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Superbowls XLI and XXXVIII, the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the Presidential campaigns of 2004 and 2008 and the London terror bombings. Storm burnished her reputation as a skilled interviewer through her conversations with major newsmakers, including President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Senators John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as many sports and pop culture icons, including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston.

In addition to her duties on The Early Show, Storm hosted shows for the award- winning CBS newsmagazine 48 Hours. She also served as co-host of the network’s “CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade” for five years. In 2007, Storm conceived and wrote a daily blog for CBSNews.com, which featured behind-the-scenes insights and stories of inspirational women.

Prior to CBS News, Storm worked for 10 years (1992 - 2002) at NBC Sports, where she hosted four Olympic Games: the late-night programs from Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996), and the daytime and weekend programs from Sydney (2000) and Salt Lake City (2002). Storm became the first woman in American television history to act as solo host of a broadcast network's sports series when she hosted NBC's Major League Baseball coverage from 1994 to 2000, including three World Series. Storm acted as part-time host and reporter for the "NBA on NBC" for 5 years, before becoming the show's full- time host from 1997 to 2002. Storm also anchored NBC Sports coverage of Wimbledon, Notre Dame football, NBC SportsDesk, Women's US Open and various college bowl games. Storm also made history as the first play-by-play announcer for the WNBA in 1997.

Storm's national television experience began as the first female host of CNN Sports Tonight from 1989 - 1992. She also hosted Major League Baseball Preview and reported from spring training, the playoffs, and Daytona 500. In addition, Storm hosted the Goodwill Games for TBS in 1990.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame with degrees in communications and political science, Storm began her career while still in school, working at WNDU-TV, the Notre Dame-owned NBC affiliate in South Bend, Indiana. After graduation, she took a job as a disc jockey at KNCN-FM in Corpus Christi, Texas. Six months later, she landed at Houston’s KSRR-FM as their drive-time sport anchor. During her four year tenure in Houston, Storm hosted the Rockets and Astros pre-and post-game shows on KTXH-TV. From 1988 – 1989, she was a sports anchor and reporter for WPQC-TV Charlotte, N.C where she also hosted NASCAR specials.

In 2004, Storm received the American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Award for Outstanding Anchor for News. In 1998, Storm won her first Gracie Award for her pioneering work as a female in the world of sports broadcasting. This year, Storm received The Paley Center for Media’s highest honor when she was named as a member of the “She Made It, Women Creating Television and Radio” Hall-of -Fame. Storm has also received The University of Notre Dame’ s Distinguished Alumni Award, the March of Dimes Sports Legends Award, the Kim Perrot Courage Award, the YWCA Brava Award and the Traditional Home Classic Woman Award.

Storm is the mother of three daughters with her husband, NBC golf host Dan Hicks. She has written two books, "Notre Dame Inspirations," (Doubleday, 2006) and "Go Girl!: Raising Healthy, Confident and Successful Daughters through Sports" (Sourcebooks, 2002), is in its second printing. Storm has also contributed to a variety of other books and written extensively for several magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Nick Jr., Family Circle, Child and Notre Dame Magazine.

This year, Storm created the Hannah Storm Foundation, which raises awareness and provides treatment for children suffering from debilitating and disfiguring vascular birthmarks. She also sits on the board of the “Tribeca Sports Film Festival,” “Colgate Women’s Sports Awards,” “21st Century Kids 1st Foundation” and has done extensive work with the March of Dimes, Partnership for Drug-Free America, Boys and Girls Club, Special Olympics, the Women’s Sports Foundation, Vascular Birthmark Institute, University of Notre Dame and Diocese of Bridgeport. Storm also founded Brainstormin Productions for the creation of educational and inspirational programming.

Provided by ESPN

For additional information, contact: Literacy Advance of Houston at 713-266-8777

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