Shaw was born in Chicago in 1940, and after a stint in the Marines — during which he arranged a meeting with one of his heroes, legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite — Shaw began his journalism career in his hometown as a radio reporter. It was through this job that Shaw interviewed Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Shaw later stated that the icon of the Civil Rights Movement gave him career advice and encouragement.

“One day you’ll make it,” Shaw recalled King telling him. “Just do some good.” Many years later, the Congress of Racial Equality, one of the leading organizations of the Civil Rights Movement, awarded Shaw its Dr. Martin Luther King Award, marking Shaw’s career of doing good.

After several stints as a reporter, including covering the Jonestown Massacre for ABC News, Shaw was hired to be the first lead anchor for CNN when the cable news channel debuted in 1980. Max Robinson had become co-anchor of ABC’s evening news program only two years earlier, making Shaw only the second Black person to anchor the news for any network. As the face of CNN, Shaw helped establish the credibility of the network and the idea of cable news. In his capacity, he covered events such as the 1981 assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan, the 1989 crackdown against protestors at Tiananmen Square and the 1991 Gulf War.

One of Shaw’s most memorable moments, and certainly his most controversial, came when he moderated a 1988 presidential debate between Vice President George H. W. Bush and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. This campaign was notorious for its race-baiting, most notably the infamous Willie Horton ad that attempted to paint Dukakis as soft on crime. That label was solidified when Shaw asked the Democrat if he would support the death penalty if an assailant raped and killed Dukakis’ wife, to which the governor coolly responded that he would not. Some blamed Shaw for asking an inappropriate question or even accused him of being pro-Republican. Shaw, meanwhile, faulted Dukakis for not having a better answer to the question.

When asked in an NPR interview if he felt a special responsibility when reporting on African-American issues, Shaw responded “No. What I strove for was perfection, which was impossible to achieve. If I’m covering a story that’s of particular interest to African-Americans, I want to be certain that I cover that story as thoroughly as possible, as I would any other story. And being African-American, I would be the critic most critical of me if I failed to do the best job possible with that story.”

The University of Illinois at Chicago offers the Bernard Shaw Price as a financial need-based scholarship to students majoring in communication, English, history or political science. UIC paid tribute to Shaw as someone who “supported students from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and championed the ideals of intellectual pursuit, empathy, and passionate aspiration.”

Here’s #ENGEmajor Tyler Grand Pre who stopped by the @UICENGL Majors Fair. Tyler won the Bernard Shaw Prize for academic undergraduate excellence. He’s a cool guitar player too. English ROCKS ✊🏾@DearEnglishMjr @thisisUIC @thisisUIC @mla_uic pic.twitter.com/tGqTkmXLmY

— UIC English (@UICENGL) April 2, 2018

The school’s social media pages display students who have received the prize, including several Black students at the university.

Congratulations to Winifred Obanor, she recently received the Bernard Shaw Scholarship last spring. She’s a senior dual-majoring in English and Public Health. #uicenglish #UIC #UICLAS #thisisuic pic.twitter.com/f7Zl2THEFx

— UIC English (@UICENGL) December 7, 2017

Shaw’s family has indicated that, instead of making contributions to them, donations be made to the scholarship fund in his name. This is just one of many ways in which Shaw’s legacy in journalism and the Black community will continue.