Stedman Graham Jr. (born March 6, 1951) is an American businessman and author. He is the long-term partner of

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

Early life and education

Graham was born on March 6, 1951, in the Whitesboro section of

Middle Township, New Jersey Middle Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township, and all of Cape May County, is part of the Ocean City, New Jersey, Ocean City metropolitan sta ...

, the son of Mary Jacobs Graham and Stedman Graham Sr. He is one of six children. He received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in social work from Hardin-Simmons University in 1974 and a master's degree in education from

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

in 1979. Graham played college

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

at Hardin-Simmons, and roomed with future NBA basketball player Harvey Catchings. Graham is reported to be 6 feet 6 inches tall.

Business career

Graham eventually moved to

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

, to establish himself in public relations. At B & C Associates, Graham worked on behalf of black causes and worked with many distinguished clients, including author

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...

and South African activist

Winnie Mandela Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...

. He is also founder of Chicago's AAD (formerly, Athletes Against Drugs), a non-profit organization that provides services to youth and has awarded over $1.5 million in scholarships since its founding in 1985. It also arranged for sports figures to educate children about substance abuse. He is a member of the Indiana Broadcasting Hall of Fame. In 1988, Graham created S. Graham & Associates, a Chicago-based corporate and educational marketing and consulting firm. Graham was an adjunct professor at

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center f ...

Books

Graham is the author of several

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...

and business-related books, including: *''The Ultimate Guide to Sport Event Management and Marketing'' (1995). *''You Can Make It Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success'' (1997) *''You Can Make It Happen Every Day'' (1998) *''Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps for Success'' (2000) *''Teens Can Make It Happen Workbook'' (2001) *''The Ultimate Guide to Sports Marketing'' (2001) *''Build Your Own Life Brand!: A Powerful Strategy to Maximize Your Potential and Enhance Your Value for Ultimate Achievement'' (2002) *''Move Without the Ball: Put Your Skills and Your Magic to Work for You'' (2004) *''Who Are You?'' (2005) *''Diversity: Leaders Not Labels: A New Plan for the 21st Century'' (2006) *''Identity: Your Passport to Success'' (2012) *''Identity Leadership: To Lead Others You Must First Lead Yourself'' (2019)

Other publications

Graham became a columnist for ''The Huffington Post'' in 2013. He contributed an article on personal identity to the College Board ''School Counseling Series'' in 2012.

Personal life

Graham told the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' in 1995 that he married immediately after college, and that his marriage had lasted six years. He has a daughter from that marriage. Graham was a tennis instructor at the Denver Country Club when he met Robin Robinson. She was a weekend news anchor on KMGH-TV at the time. They were in a relationship from 1982 to 1986. Graham has been the subject of much publicity since 1986, most notably through tabloid articles claiming to chronicle his ongoing relationship with Oprah Winfrey. Graham has been with Winfrey since 1986. He was conferred an honorary degree by Notre Dame de Namur University of Belmont, Calif., at the university's 167th Commencement ceremony on May 4, 2019.

References

External links

Stedman Graham's home pageStedman Graham's Charity AAD home page
*

– Video clip, book listings, speaking topics.
Stedman Graham's ExecutiveBiz Executive Spotlight Interview
– Executive Spotlight Interview
Stedman Graham on creating a personal brand
Sally Duros: An interview with Stedman Graham
Stedman Graham – Who Are You
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Stedman 1951 births Living people 21st-century African-American businesspeople American self-help writers People from Abilene, Texas People from Middle Township, New Jersey Ball State University alumni University of Illinois Chicago faculty University of Chicago faculty Hardin–Simmons Cowboys basketball players Weatherford College alumni Middle Township High School alumni American men's basketball players 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century American sportsmen