frank sesno
Professor Frank Sesno brings to the classroom more than 30 years’ experience on the front lines of the news. Now in his third year as Professor of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University Sesno bridges the divide between scholarship and journalism. Shortly after joining GWU’s School of Media and Public Affairs, he founded The Public Affairs Project as an outlet for the exploration and practice innovative journalism. The PA Project will premiere Planet Forward, a web driven public affairs talk show for PBS that focuses on climate change and alternative energy.
Sesno remains a special correspondent at CNN, where he is a weekly contributor to The Situation Room. As Special Correspondent for the award winning series, CNN Presents, he directed the documentaries, “Donald Rumsfeld: Man of War” and “We Were Warned: Tomorrow’s Oil Crisis”. On PBS, he hosted WorldTalk, Sesno Reports, and Avoiding Armageddon, a documentary on weapons of mass destruction. He also hosted a documentary about the life and legacy of Ronald Reagan and a program about the creation of the Department of Homeland Security with Tom Ridge for the History Channel.
Sesno, an Emmy Award winning reporter, has interviewed countless national figures including four U.S. Presidents; George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Ministers Sharon, Netanyahu, and Rabin, King Hussein of Jordan, and Czech President Vaclav Havel.
Before coming to GWU, Sesno served as Professor of Public Policy and Communication at George Mason University (GMU) in Virginia, where he was a senior fellow for the university’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Program. As part of the program, he moderated a six-part series of “Critical Conversations” between key public and private sector leaders.
Moderating and participating in lively panel discussions has been always been a key part of Sesno’s work. At GWU, he has conducted interviews and moderated panels with Ted Turner, George Stephanopoulos, Tom Ridge, Gwen Ifill, Tony Snow, and retired Major General John Batiste. In the fall of 2008, he co-hosted a conversation on the direction of the country’s foreign policy and the challenges to the next administration with former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, Warren Christopher, and James Baker.
Sesno got his start in broadcasting at WCFR Radio in Springfield, VT before moving on to Voice of America. He then went to London to work for Associated Press (AP) Radio as an award winning overseas correspondent. Sesno made the jump to TV in 1984 and became a White House Correspondent, anchor, and analyst for CNN. In 1996 he was named Washington D.C. bureau chief and senior Vice President of CNN. He remained for six years during which he reorganized the Washington newsroom, upgraded the graphics department, and created several new beats.
Sesno serves on the advisory board of the Washington, DC chapter of the POSSE Foundation, which identifies, recruits, and trains outstanding inner-city high school students and sends them to top colleges and universities. In the past, he has been a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism awards, and a trustee of Middlebury College in Vermont.
Conversant in Spanish and French, he graduated cum laude from Middlebury with a degree in American history. He also holds an honorary doctorate from the Monterrey Institute of International Studies.
