Pat Dawson is an NBC News correspondent based in New York, a position he has held since August 1996. He was the first NBC News correspondent to report from the scene of the terror attacks at the World Trade Center, describing the fall of the twin towers live on the "Today" show. He continued to report from Ground Zero throughout September and October 2001. During the war on terrorism, he also covered the White House and the Pentagon for NBC and MSNBC.
Dawson has played a prominent role in NBC's coverage of several major air disasters, including Flight 587 in New York, Egyptair 990 off the New England coast and Swissair 111.
In 1999, he was one of the NBC News correspondents covering the Balkans War in Macedonia and Kosovo, where he reported extensively on the plight of Kosovar refugees for "NBC Nightly News," "Today" and MSNBC.
Dawson has been the network's lead correspondent for stories such as the prosecution of Louise Woodward (the Nanny Trial) and the paralyzing New England ice storm of January 1998. He is also a frequent contributor to "The Fleecing of America" series on "NBC Nightly News."
Prior to joining NBC, Dawson was a political correspondent for WABC-TV, where he was the lead reporter for WABC's coverage of national, international and New York politics. Dawson also reported for WABC and ABC NewsOne from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the Gulf War.
Before reporting for ABC, Dawson was a CNN correspondent from 1986 to 1989. In 1988 he covered the presidential campaign as CNN's primary network correspondent reporting on Jesse Jackson's campaign. Prior to that, he was based in CNN's Los Angeles bureau, where he covered the Western states. Dawson also reported overseas for CNN in Central America and the Middle East.
From 1985 to 1986, Dawson was at the Financial News Network, where he anchored daily coverage of breaking financial news and reported on economic and political issues.
Dawson began his television career in 1978 at WNET, the PBS station in New York. He anchored daily evening newsbriefs, hosted public affairs specials and served as an announcer. In 1984, he was both reporter and producer for a PBS documentary chronicling labor strikes and the government crisis in the United Kingdom. He began his career at the Associated Press in New York.
The recipient of a 1992 Emmy Award for his Gulf War coverage, Dawson was also nominated for an Emmy in 1994 for Outstanding Writing. In 1991, he received a Folio Award for his investigative reports on Sen. Alfonse D'Amato and HUD contracts.
Dawson attended Fordham University where he majored in political science and communications, and he did graduate work at Columbia University in New York.