Robert Petty (November 26, 1940 – February 18, 2020) was an American television reporter and news anchor who spent nearly his entire career at

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

WLS-TV WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's ABC network outlet. It has been owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division since the station's inception. ...

, retiring after 31 years with the station in 2002. Petty was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. After graduating from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in 1970, he became a general assignment reporter at WLS in 1971, becoming one of the station's first black reporters. By the late 1970s, he was an anchor for the station's ''Saturday Weekend News.'' Petty received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters at

Governors State University Governors State University (Governors State, GSU, GovState, or GOVST) is a public university in University Park, Illinois, United States. The campus is located south of Chicago, Illinois. GovState was founded in 1969. It is a public universi ...

in 2005 (adding a new title to his list of distinctions). This was the second Governors State degree Petty received from the university; he earned his master's degree in communications from the institution in 1979. In 1987, Petty was named as a William Benton Fellow at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame at ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism in 2007. Petty died February 18, 2020, of lung cancer at age 79.

References

1940 births 2020 deaths Television anchors from Chicago American television reporters and correspondents African-American journalists Arizona State University alumni Mass media people from Memphis, Tennessee Deaths from lung cancer in Illinois 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people {{US-journalist-1940s-stub