Don Cornwell
Broadcast executive and businessman W. Don Cornwell was born in Cushing, Oklahoma on January 17, 1948. Cornwell moved with his family to Tacoma, Washington, where he attended Stadium High School. After graduating from Stadium, Cornwell enrolled at Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1965. Four years later, he graduated with his B.A. degree in political science. Cornwell then graduated from Harvard Business School with his M.B.A. degree in 1971.
Cornwell was first hired by Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York in 1971. By 1980, he was promoted to chief operating officer of the Goldman Sachs’ corporate finance department of the investment banking division. In 1988, Cornwell left the securities firm to found Granite Broadcasting Corporation. In his twenty-one years as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, the corporation purchased fifteen television stations to become the largest African American-controlled television broadcast company in America. At its peak, Granite Broadcasting generated $169 million in revenue. From 1991 through 2006, Granite was publicly owned with common stock listed on NASDAQ and several issues of debt registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Granite Broadcasting Corporation filed for voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in December 2006 and emerged from its restructuring in June 2007. Cornwell stepped down as the company chairman and CEO in 2009.
Cornwell has received numerous honors and corporation directorships throughout his career including serving on the boards of Pfizer, Inc., Avon Products, Inc., American International Group, Inc. and CVS-Caremark Corporation. He is a trustee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York. Cornwell was formerly on the board of directors of the Wallace Foundation, the Hershey Trust Company and Milton Hershey School, the New York University Medical Center and the Telecommunications Development Fund. Cornwell’s company, Granite Broadcasting, was named Company of the Year by Black Enterprise. In 1996, he was honored as the Alumnus of the Year by Occidental College; and in 1999, he was the recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award from Harvard Business School. Cornwell is married to Sandra Williams-Cornwell and has two adult children, K. Don Cornwell and Samantha Cornwell.
W. Don Cornwell was interviewed by the The HistoryMakers on May 17, 2012.
A2012.077
Male
5/17/2012
Cornwell
Married
Harvard Business School
Occidental College
Stadium High School
W. Don
Cushing
COR03
Fall
Oklahoma
Amagansett, New York
It is what it is.

New York
1/17/1948
New York
United States
Salad (Kale)
Broadcast chief executive and financial executive Don Cornwell (1948 - ) was the founder of the largest African American controlled television broadcast group in America.
Granite Broadcasting
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Don Cornwell's interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Don Cornwell lists his favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Don Cornwell talks about his mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Don Cornwell talks about his grandparents' occupations
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Don Cornwell describes the town where he was born, Cushing, Oklahoma
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Don Cornwell talks about his mother's history
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Don Cornwell talks about his mother's education
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Don Cornwell discusses Oklahoma's role in the Civil Rights Movement
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Don Cornwell talks about his father
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Don Cornwell talks about his father's experiences in World War II and his father's PTSD
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Don Cornwell talks about his father's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Don Cornwell talks about his father's aspirations and occupation as a barber
Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Don Cornwell talks about how his parents met
Tape: 1 Story: 14 - Don Cornwell shares the story of how his family moved from Oklahoma to the state of Washington
Tape: 1 Story: 15 - Don Cornwell talks about his maternal grandparents' education
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Don Cornwell talks about his parents' separation and his father's high standards for education
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Don Cornwell talks about his siblings
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Don Cornwell describes his likeness to his parents
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Don Cornwell describes his earliest childhood memory
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Don Cornwell talks about growing up in Tacoma, Washington
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Don Cornwell describes the sights, sounds, and smells of growing up
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Don Cornwell describes the social life of Tacoma, Washington
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Don Cornwell talks about his friends in Tacoma, including Bob Moore
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Don Cornwell talks about not being able to participate in sports as a child due to a heart defect
Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Don Cornwell talks about his grandmother's belief in the importance of naps
Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Don Cornwell talks about sports in high school
Tape: 2 Story: 12 - Don Cornwell talks about elementary school and high school
Tape: 2 Story: 13 - Don Cornwell talks about Stadium High School and Puget Sound
Tape: 2 Story: 14 - Don Cornwell remembers learning to read at an early age and an influential high school teacher
Tape: 2 Story: 15 - Don Cornwell talks about watching TV when he was growing up
Tape: 2 Story: 16 - Don Cornwell discusses the role of church in his childhood
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Don Cornwell talks about segregation in Tacoma, Washington
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Don Cornwell discusses the African American community in Tacoma, Washington
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Don Cornwell talks about his mentors in middle school
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Don Cornwell talks about his aspirations and heroes in high school
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Don Cornwell talks about the Civil Rights Movement and Malcolm X's assassination
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Don Cornwell talks about his mother's civic activities
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Don Cornwell talks about the 1962 Seattle World's Fair
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Don Cornwell remembers the 1963 March on Washington
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Don Cornwell talks about African American newspapers in Tacoma
Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Don Cornwell talks about his favorite subjects in high school
Tape: 3 Story: 11 - Don Cornwell talks about his favorite teachers in high school
Tape: 3 Story: 12 - Don Cornwell talks about choosing a college
Tape: 3 Story: 13 - Don Cornwell talks about some of his activities in high school
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Don Cornwell talks about being senior class president and his decision to attend Occidental College
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Don Cornwell talks about Occidental College
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Don Cornwell describes Occidental College as moderately conservative
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Don Cornwell talks about the African American student organizations at Occidental College
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Don Cornwell talks about the Black Student Association and the African American community in LA
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Don Cornwell talks about his role in the Black Student Association and in student government
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Don Cornwell talks about the professors who influenced him at Occidental College, pt. 1
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Don Cornwell talks about the professors who influenced him at Occidental College, pt. 2
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Don Cornwell talks about changing his focus from law to business
Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Don Cornwell talks about the Black Panthers and Ron Karenga's US Organization in Los Angeles
Tape: 4 Story: 11 - Don Cornwell talks about meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his assassination
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Don Cornwell discusses Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination and the Watts riots
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Don Cornwell talks about his experiences with the Los Angeles police force
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Don Cornwell talks about black empowerment and the Black Panther shootings in 1969
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Don Cornwell talks about going to Harvard Business School, pt. 1
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Don Cornwell talks about going to Harvard Business School, pt. 2
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Don Cornwell talks about the discrimination faced by his class at Harvard Business School
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Don Cornwell talks about the professors at Harvard Business School, pt. 1
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Don Cornwell talks about the professors at Harvard Business School, pt. 2
Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Don Cornwell talks about his classmates at Harvard Business School
Tape: 5 Story: 10 - Don Cornwell talks about the role that Occidental College played in his preparation for Harvard
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Don Cornwell describes how integrated environments can foster skills development
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Don Cornwell talks about working at Goldman Sachs
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Don Cornwell talks about the dissolution of his marriage and his subsequent promotion at Goldman Sachs
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Don Cornwell discusses his tenure at Goldman Sachs as well as his boss and mentor at the firm, Peter Sacerdote
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Don Cornwell talks about leaving Goldman Sachs and pursuing a new venture in broadcasting and television station ownership
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Don Cornwell talks about how minority tax certificates encouraged his start in television station ownership
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Don Cornwell talks about buying his first two TV stations
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Don Cornwell talks about the successful start of his TV stations
Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Don Cornwell discusses his management approach in broadcasting
Tape: 6 Story: 10 - Don Cornwell discusses taking his company, Granite Broadcasting, public in 1991
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Don Cornwell talks about the stations Granite Broadcasting purchased after going public in 1991
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Don Cornwell talks about competing with Rupert Murdoch for a station in Austin, Texas
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Don Cornwell talks about rebuilding a local station in Austin, Texas
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Don Cornwell reflects on one of the biggest mistakes of his career and its impact on Granite Broadcasting
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Don Cornwell discusses how his company's inexperience and financial situation affected its growth
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Don Cornwell talks about partnering with NBC
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Don Cornwell talks about selling a station to NBC and the sale's negative impact on Granite Broadcasting
Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Don Cornwell talks about what he did to try to ameliorate Granite Broadcasting's financial situation
Tape: 7 Story: 9 - Don Cornwell recalls filing for bankruptcy and the impact of the financial crisis
Tape: 7 Story: 10 - Don Cornwell talks about what he would do differently about Granite Broadcasting
Tape: 7 Story: 11 - Don Cornwell shares advice for young entrepreneurs
Tape: 7 Story: 12 - Don Cornwell describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community today
Tape: 7 Story: 13 - Don Cornwell reflects upon his legacy
Tape: 7 Story: 14 - Don Cornwell talks about how he would like to be remembered
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