Mike Leonard

In addition to his regular Today show features, Leonard's stories have appeared on NBC Nightly News, Dateline, NBC Sports, ESPN, MSNBC, Showtime and PBS. He has covered political conventions, presidential inaugurations, the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, championship boxing, the Golden Globes – and so much more. International assignments have taken him to Australia, China, Korea, Europe, the British Isles -- and he has ventured forth on modes of transportation ranging from horses to oil rigs and Air Force supersonic jets.

While he retired from NBC News in December of 2012, Mike continues his prolific storytelling. His newest project – inCommon - is a public television and online series grounded in the premise that people share more in common than we are led to believe. Mike produces the inCommon show and other documentaries in collaboration with his co-creator, Mary Kay Wall, and his family company, Picture Show Films in Chicago.

In 2006, Leonard published The Ride of Our Lives: Roadside Lessons of an American Family, about a 2004 month-long cross country RV trip he took with his aging, eccentric parents and grown children. The book quickly rose to the top of the New York Times best-seller list. Leonard was nominated for a prestigious Quill Award in the category of Debut Author of the Year.Leonard also created The Ride of Our Lives 12-part public television series about the journey.

Providence College bestowed an honorary doctorate upon Leonard in 2000. His Commencement Address received a standing ovation from a crowd of 10,000 in the Dunkin' Donut Center.

In 1989, Mike Leonard pioneered a broadcasting model when he was the first and only television network correspondent to research, produce, shoot, write, and edit all of his own stories. While unprecedented at the time, Mike’s independent and innovative style of reporting now has emerged as a valued model in the battle to cover the news in an effective and cost efficient manner.

Leonard graduated from Providence College in 1970, where he played Division One Hockey for the now-legendary Lou Lamariello, a renowned NHL coach, multiple Stanley Cup winner, and current President & GM of the New York Islanders. Lamoriello coached Leonard during his freshman year (1966-67), and then again when Lamoriello became Head Coach for Leonard's junior (1968-69) and senior years (1969-70). Under Lou's tutelage, Leonard was named to the ECAC All-Star team in January, 1970 and earned MVP and Providence College's prestigious Mal Brown Award for character and courage the same year.

Michael P. Leonard (born November 30, 1947 in Paterson,New Jersey) is a retired, Emmy Award winning American television journalist, NYT best-selling author, filmmaker and public speaker. Leonard was a 32-year NBC-TV national network correspondent and regular contributor to the Today show on NBC-TV.The Today Show. He is known for his uniquely creative style and his stories on everyday life.