Elie Abel, 83; Longtime Journalist Headed 2 Schools

Elie Abel, a longtime journalist and broadcaster who also headed two prominent journalism schools, has died. He was 83.

Abel died Thursday at a hospice in Washington, D.C., of the combined effects of a severe stroke and Alzheimer’s disease, according to his son, Mark.

Best known from his years at NBC, where he worked from 1961 to 1969, Abel appeared regularly on the evening news with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley.

At NBC, he served first as State Department correspondent in Washington and then London bureau chief before returning to Washington as diplomatic correspondent.

Abel, a native of Montreal, earned his bachelor’s degree from McGill University in 1941 and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University a year later.

He began his journalism career as a reporter for the Windsor (Ontario) Star but spent much of World War II as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force. After the war, he returned to Canada and worked for the Montreal Gazette and then a number of news agencies before joining the New York Times in 1949. During his tenure at the Times he reported from Detroit, Washington, Belgrade and New Delhi. He also covered the Hungarian revolution.

After leaving the Times, he served as Washington bureau chief for the Detroit News before joining NBC. He won a George Foster Peabody Award for outstanding radio news in 1967 and an Overseas Press Club award for best interpretation of foreign news in 1969.

Abel served as dean of the school of journalism at Columbia University from 1970 to 1979 and then moved to Stanford University from 1979 to 1991, serving as chairman of the communications department from 1983 to 1986.

Abel also wrote several well-regarded books, including “The Missile Crisis” in 1966 about the Cuban missile crisis; “Roots of Involvement” in 1971 with Marvin Kalb, about U.S. participation in Vietnam; “The Shattered Bloc” about the collapse of communism; and, with W. Averell Harriman, “Special Envoy to Churchill and Stalin,” a memoir of Harriman’s diplomatic work during World War II.

In addition to his son, Mark, Abel is survived by his widow, Charlotte, of Washington; daughter, Suzanne, of Palo Alto; and a granddaughter.

A memorial service is planned for September.