Washington, DC - Mar 8, 2007 - David Wolper will receive the NAB Distinguished Service Award during NAB2007 in Las Vegas. Each year the NAB Distinguished Service Award recognizes broadcasters who have made significant and lasting contributions to the broadcasting industry.

Wolper has made over 700 films that have won more than 150 awards, including two Oscars, 50 Emmys, seven Golden Globes and five Peabodys. He was the executive producer of Roots, the 12-hour mini-series that followed several generations in the lives of a slave family, as well as The Thorn Birds, North & South, L.A. Confidential, and the 1971 version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Wolper's career includes production of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles; chairman of the 100th Anniversary celebration of the Statue of Liberty; and documentaries on Jacques Cousteau and for National Geographic.

Wolper attended Drake University in Des Moines, IA, and the University of Southern California. He did not graduate from either, though. He left school early in 1949 to enter the TV business. Since then, both universities have awarded him honorary doctorate degrees.