Emmy Awards 
1980 grad wins two Emmy Awards
Gary Langer '80 won Emmy Awards in 2008 and 2005 for for his work at ABC News. Langer, the network's polling director, received the awards for his part in ABC's "Iraq: Where Things Stand" coverage, which included the first national news polls conducted in Iraq. The two awards are the only Emmys ever to cite polling. Langer has also received three other Emmy nominations, including one in 2004 for a survey of Americans' views of the health care system that supported a weeklong series, "Critical Condition: Healthcare in America."
By fall 2008, Langer's unit at ABC News had done three polls in Afghanistan and five in Iraq, aiming to deepen news coverage by exploring the daily lives of ordinary residents. The work required finding a company willing to work in dangerous areas, training local residents to do in-person polling, translating and re-translating the questionnaires, and, as Langer says, "doing a lot of worrying about people's safety." More on the Iraq polls.
Since joining ABC in 1990, Langer has produced surveys on topics ranging from politics, presidential elections and consumer confidence to terrorism, obesity, pain control, religious beliefs, drugs and sex. He has also established standards and procedures through which his unit reviews virtually all survey research that ABC News is considering using in its broadcasts, to ensure its validity, reliability and balance.
Formerly an AP reporter, Langer has appeared on ABC News broadcasts and other television and radio programs in the United States and around the world, and has written on public opinion for the op-ed pages of major newspapers. He is a trustee of the national Council on Public Polls and past president of the New York chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. He lives in New York with his wife and two daughters.