Irving R. Levine, an NBC News correspondent for more than 35 years, is one of the most renowned and respected broadcast journalists in the nation.
Irving R. Levine, an NBC News correspondent for more than 35 years, is one of the most renowned and respected broadcast journalists in the nation.
He has reported and interpreted fast-breaking news and major economic, political and social trends on TV and radio from four continents. At present, he is based in Washington, D.C., as NBC's chief economics correspondent.
In 1971, Mr. Levine, who Time magazine calls "the pioneer of economics reporting on television," became the first network correspondent to cover economics full time. He has reported on recession and recovery, taxation and tariffs, money and markets. He accompanied Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton to annual economic summits. He also traveled to Peking and Shanghai with Secretary of the Treasury Blumenthal to cover the start of United States-China trade negotiations.
Prior to his current assignment, he was an NBC News correspondent for four years in Moscow, 10 years in Rome, two years in Tokyo and a year in London. As a war correspondent, he covered the Korean conflict and the truce talks at Panmunjon. In Rome, he reported on the Vatican's Ecumenical Council, and he accompanied Pope Paul VI on his historic flights to Jerusalem and Bombay. In Moscow, he was the first network correspondent accredited in the Soviet Union, broadcasting reports on the Krushchev era.
Levine's work as a foreign correspondent also included coverage of the Berlin airlift, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Eisenhower-Krushchev summit in Paris (which was aborted by the Soviet downing of the American U2 spy plane), and the Kennedy-Krushchev summit in Vienna.
Levine is the author of four books: Main Street, U.S.S.R., which was on the national non-fiction bestseller lists and has been used as a university textbook; Travel Guide to Russia, described by Life magazine as the one essential book for anyone traveling to Russia; The New Worker in Soviet Russia; and Main Street, Italy. He also has contributed to such national magazines as Atlantic and Reader's Digest.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University, Levine received his master's degree from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has been awarded honorary degrees of Humane Letters from Brown University, Bryant College, Roger Williams College and the University of Rhode Island. In 1988, he received Brown University's highest alumni honor, the William Rogers Award for "outstanding professional achievement and extraordinary service to humanity."
Mr. Levine is listed in Who's Who in America, and there is an "Irving R. Levine Manuscript Collection" at the University of Syracuse.
Mr. Levine's journalism awards include an Overseas Press Club honor for the "most outstanding radio and TV reporting from abroad," a Headliners Award and an Emmy citation. He was the first to receive the Martin R. Gainsborough Award for Economic Reporting, and was named to the Columbia School of Journalism's list of the most outstanding graduates.
Mr. Levine began his journalism career with The Providence Journal-Bulletin, then moved on to foreign correspondence in Vienna, Austria, as bureau chief for the International News Service. Later, he was a special correspondent for The Times of London. His insightful reports and commentaries are regular features on NBC Nightly News, Today and NBC News' special broadcasts. Additionally, Mr. Levine does a weekly commentary on CNBC, the business news cable channel, as well as regular radio news reports and commentary.
A native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Mr. Levine served as an officer in the Signal Corps in World War II in the Philippines and Japan. He and his wife, Nancy, live in Washington, D.C. They have three childrenJeffrey, Daniel and Jennifer.