Robert Chandler

Robert Chandler (September 25, 1928 – December 11, 2008) was an American television executive who helped create and oversee the television newsmagazine 60 Minutes during his 22-year tenure at CBS News.

He was born Robert Zuckerkandle in Brooklyn, New York on September 25, 1928, one of two sons of Louis and Minnie Gurin Zuckerkandle. Chandler was used by him as a pen name before he had his name legally changed. He attended the City College of New York, where he was the editor of the college newspaper and met his future wife, the former Eleanor Reiff. He graduated from CCNY in 1949 with a degree in economics. During the 1970s, Chandler approved the program's stories and finances, and helped bring Andy Rooney to the program. Don Hewitt credited Chandler for his role in the program, stating that "In my more than half a century at CBS News, I don't recall anyone having a better fix on what 60 Minutes should be than Bob Chandler". Chandler was named vice president for administration and assistant to the president of CBS News in 1975.

He later worked for NBC News and was executive producer of the 1990 PBS documentary Learning in America: Schools That Work.

Chandler died at age 80 on December 11, 2008, of heart failure at his home in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.