Outstanding Young Alumni
Morgan Chesky
Awarded 2023
Morgan Chesky grew up in the golden age of network television news, tuning into legends of the airwaves such as Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and, of course, Sam Houston State’s own Dan Rather (‘53).
Since graduating in 2008, Chesky’s career path has emulated Rather’s in reaching the network level a decade after departing campus. Chesky earned his bachelor’s degree in mass communications with an emphasis in broadcast journalism, sharing he was drawn to SHSU because he could gain immediate broadcast experience as a freshman.
The fifth generation Texan is now a national correspondent for NBC News whose reports can be seen on all NBC platforms, including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and The Today Show. While based in Dallas, various assignments have taken the proud Bearkat all over the world.
In Ukraine, Chesky reported on the deepening war with Russia. His team’s interviews from the city of Zaporizhzhia provided critical accounts of how the Russian military took over Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
On May 24, 2022, when a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Chesky was one of the first to report the heartbreaking details live from the scene and spent the ensuing months covering the investigation into law enforcement’s response.
Prior to joining NBC News, Chesky reported and anchored in Seattle, Oklahoma City, Austin, and Tyler, where he built his career on stories ranging from Cuba reopening to American visitors, a solar eclipse at 30,000 feet, to a vicious custody dispute over a pair of pet hogs.
He credits his career to his mother Karen and grandparents Bryan and Ada Betty Finley, who ensured he realized how big the world was from his hometown of Kerrville and never missed an opportunity to share an overseas headline or tune into the evening news.