Mimi Gurbst served as the head of news coverage and vice president of the network for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

. In 2010, she resigned from ABC after almost 30 years of employment to become a high school guidance counselor.

About

Gurbst joined ABC news in the early 1980s where she served as head of news coverage for more than two decades. In 2008, ABC promoted Gurbst to the post of Senior Producer for

Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20 (U.S. TV series), 20/20'', and ...

and World News with Charles Gibson, with responsibility for futures, features, and domestic news stories. She left the network in 2010 to enroll in the

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

School of Education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences e ...

, in the master's degree program for "Risk and Prevention," with the hopes of turning her counseling skills into a new career as a high school guidance counselor. Gurbst graduated from the Harvard in 2011 and served as a Teaching Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2012.

Controversy

In May 2010 Gurbst became the focus of an online controversy. After

announced that Gurbst was leaving the network to attend

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

's Graduate School for Education and pursue a career as a guidance counselor, Felix Gillette of the ''

New York Observer New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

'' wrote an article which '' Vanity Fair'' later called "somewhat fluffy."Mimi Gurbst: Career Counselor or Cruella Deville? - FishbowlDC

/ref> A large number people spoke out about Gurbst's behavior and its impact on ABC News, claiming that Gurbst had been responsible for creating a toxic work culture at ABC News. Some identified themselves by name, but many posted anonymously.For Departing ABC News Exec, Where the Story Ends, Commentary Begins - TVNewser

Defense letter

In May 2010, Jessica Stedman Guff wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Observer in defense of Gurbst, speaking out against the negative commentary

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurbst, Mimi Living people Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Year of birth missing (living people)