Bill Galvin says the key ingredient to career success is perseverance.
As CNN International’s vice president for business development and sports programming, Galvin says this “never say die” attitude was crucial to starting his career.
Galvin, a 1986 UT graduate, is in charge of all sports programming and special programming for CNN International, including the network’s coverage of the Olympics and the World Cup, as well as its “Special Projects” reports from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
UT’s College of Communication and Information (CCI) presented Galvin with an Accomplished Alumni award February 20. The program recognizes notable alumni for success and distinction within their field.
After graduating from the college’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media, Galvin said he spent several years trying to break into sports journalism.
“I had opportunities to do other kinds of television production and news work, but my heart was in sports,” Galvin said. “I did everything I could to build up a body of work so that when the call came from CNN I had something tangible to show them, something that proved that I could do the job beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
In 1988, Galvin joined CNN, producing programs such as Sports Tonight and This Week in the NBA. He went on to produce live remote coverage of ten Super Bowls, several World Series, golf tournaments, NCAA championships, and Stanley Cup finals.
He then was promoted to vice president and executive producer of the CNN/Sports Illustrated Network before joining Headline News as senior vice president of programming.
Galvin was made senior vice president at CNN International in 2011.
With this award, Galvin joins many UT alumni, including Fortune 500 CEOs, Olympians, US ambassadors, civic leaders, authors, and musicians.
“Bill Galvin provides an outstanding example to our students of how talent combined with hard work and persistence leads to great success,” said Dean Mike Wirth. “His career achievements coupled with his commitment to mentoring others to help them realize their dreams are truly inspiring. We were honored to present Bill with this prestigious award and greatly appreciate his willingness to return to campus to speak to our students.”
To view other Accomplished Alumni, visit the Vols Connect website at volsconnect.com/accomplished.
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CONTACT:
Charles Primm (865-974-5180, primmc@utk.edu)
Lance Taylor (865-974-8949, ltaylor@utfi.org)