UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A Penn State alumnus who has built an award-winning career in journalism and serves as vice president and Washington bureau chief for CBS News will deliver the commencement address for the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications during commencement at 1:30 p.m. May 9 in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Mark Lima oversees the news gathering and management of the network’s largest bureau that is home to the No. 1 Sunday public affairs show, “Face The Nation with Margaret Brennan," and is a leader in reporting on the White House, Congress, the Pentagon and more.
Lima joined CBS News in 2020 as West Coast bureau chief. During his time leading that bureau, CBS News covered major stories of national importance, including the California recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom, California’s deadly wildfire seasons of 2021 and 2020, and the general election of 2020.
Prior to joining CBS News in 2020, Lima worked at Univision/Fusion, where since 2013 he served as vice president of news. While there, he served as the executive producer of the Edward R. Murrow Award-winning weekly Facebook Watch program “Real America with Jorge Ramos,” which pushed the boundary of multiplatform and digital storytelling and featured prominent political interviews ahead of the 2020 election.
Before joining Univision/Fusion, Lima worked at ABC News for 15 years, including as a senior producer at “Nightline” where he participated in coordinating coverage of key special events. Lima served as ABC News’ deputy bureau chief in Los Angeles from 2004 to 2008 and was the director of sports and special projects at ABC NewsOne, the network’s affiliate newsgathering service.
Lima, who earned his bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from Penn State in 1987 and grew up in State College, has been honored with the Peabody Award and multiple News Emmys.
Lima’s father, Robert Lima, was a professor of Spanish and comparative literatures, who taught at the University for 37 years from 1965 to 2002; he died in 2022.