ABC News' Chief National Security Correspondent John McWethy '69 to Deliver Commencement Address
January 28, 2003
January 28, 2003, Greencastle, Ind. - John McWethy, chief national security correspondent for ABC News and a 1969 graduate of DePauw University, will return to his alma mater Sunday, May 18, 2003 to deliver the commencement address to the Class of 2003. McWethy, whose reports on military and diplomatic aspects of US foreign policy, primarily from the Pentagon, can be seen nightly on World News Tonight With Peter Jennings, will also receive the McNaughton Medal for Public Service.
“John McWethy, whose reports keep America apprised and informed in these tense times, will bring a timely and fitting message to DePauw,” says DePauw University President Robert G. Bottoms. “John's career in journalism began, as he's proud to note, at The DePauw. He's a loyal alumnus, and a very visible example of the uncommon success DePauw alumni enjoy in the world. From my experience, commencement speakers who have strong feelings for DePauw and, in this case, have fond memories of the University often deliver the most memorable speeches. I believe his insights into current events and the world this year's graduates will be entering also will resonate with the audience.”
The winner of three national Emmy Awards, John McWethy was at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, when the building was struck by an American Airlines passenger plane. He was heavily involved in ABC News' coverage of the aftermath, which included the US war on terrorism and the war in Afghanistan. McWethy went to Tora Bora in Afghanistan — traveling with U.S. special operations teams there — as the hunt for Osama bin Laden continued. His recent reports have focused on the increasing tensions between the United States and Iraq and North Korea.
McWethy's other assignments have included coverage of the air war over Kosovo and the India-Pakistan conflict. He spent months in Bosnia before and after American troops arrived, and visited Liberia during the worst of the fighting, when the U.S. Embassy was under siege. Assignments have also included reports from Haiti, Somalia, Mozambique, Russia and the Middle East. He also was heavily involved in coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, reported on all five historic meetings between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and covered the Iran-Contra affair. All told, McWethy has traveled to more than 50 countries.
John McWethy received an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree from DePauw last May, and noted, 
[DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "May 19, 2002" 1500KB] "I never would have dreamed that writing my last story for The DePauw would have ended up helping me hone skills that would take me around the world from this campus in Greencastle to all the countries I've had the privilege of stepping onto, giving me a front row seat to three decades of history, 7 presidents, covering the collapse of the Soviet Union, the war in the Persian Gulf, and take me to some of the nastiest countries on the planet-- Mogadishu and Somalia, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan-- all to help learn about what the conflict is all about."
Mr. McWethy joined ABC News in 1979 as chief Pentagon correspondent. He was appointed chief national security correspondent in 1984. He has received three national Emmy Awards for reports on Ross Perot, the Persian Gulf War and the Soviet military. He has also received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, an Overseas Press Club Award, and others, for his work.
From 1973 until 1979, McWethy was a reporter for U.S. News & World Report, the last two years as chief White House correspondent. He joined U.S. News as science and technology editor. Mr. McWethy began his career in journalism at Congressional Quarterly. After graduating from DePauw, John McWethy earned a master's degree from Columbia University's Pulitzer School of Journalism.
The McNaughton Medal honors the memory and commitment to public service of 1942 DePauw graduate John McNaughton. In 1967, shortly after being appointed Secretary of the Navy, McNaughton and his wife and son were killed in a plane crash. 
That same year, the friends and family of John and Sally McNaughton, led by then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, established a memorial at DePauw in the form of the McNaughton Medal for Public Service, which has been awarded on seven previous occasions. Previous recipients were chemist Percy L. Julian (DePauw 1920) in 1972; William D. Ruckelshaus, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1984; U.S. Representative and 1952 DePauw graduate Lee H. Hamilton in 1987; Emory University President James T. Laney in 1990; Vice-President of the United States Dan Quayle (DePauw 1969) in 1990; civil rights leader and 1957 DePauw graduate Vernon Jordan in 1993; and U.S. Senator Richard Lugar in 2001.