Tenold (Rob) Sunde, 66, longtime local and network news executive and writer
and a former chairman of the Radio-Television News Directors Association, died
July 1 from kidney and liver failure.
Sunde was a veteran of numerous radio-station news posts, as well as CBS
Evening News, CBS Radio, CNBC and ABC Radio.
He had also been a journalism professor at Columbia University and a consultant to USIA.
As a writer, he penned newscasts and commentaries for Douglas Edwards, Walter
Cronkite and Peter Jennings and made documentaries with Mike Wallace, Roger
Mudd and Charles Osgood.
In 1996, he joined CNBC as senior editor and supervisor of daytime
programming.
In 1998, he became executive producer for the WWOR-TV New York investigative
team.
Sunde was RTNDA chairman in 1990-1991 and was instrumental in establishing
the trade group's Radio-Television News Directors Foundation, which provides training and
scholarships for journalists.
Barbara Cochran, president of RTNDA and RTNDF, said Friday: "He was so
dedicated to helping young people ... We all owe him a great debt for his vision
and leadership."
Sunde's wife, Lila, and their three children have asked that contributions go
to the Rob Sunde Mentoring Fund, RTNDF, 1600 K St. NW, Suite 700, Washington,
D.C., 20006.
The family will hold a memorial service in New York next
month.
