Alumni

November 30, 2018 | Mike Enright '88 (CLAS), University Communications

Dan Rousseau Lights it Up

The two-time Emmy award winner and UConn alum discusses the appeal of working in television lighting, where, if it's done right, no one will notice.

Dan Rousseau '08 (SFA) on the set of The Van Jones Show at CNN in Manhattan on June 14, 2018. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Dan Rousseau '08 (SFA) on the set of The Van Jones Show at CNN in Manhattan on June 14, 2018. The two-time Emmy award winner discusses the appeal of working in television lighting, where, if it's done right, no one will notice. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Dan Rousseau ’08 (SFA) has never been in front of a TV camera, and it’s been years since he had an acting role in the theater. Yet you can enjoy his workmanship every day of the week on CNN, and if you tuned in to hockey at this past Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, you saw his work there as well.

Rousseau works in the world of television lighting as both a designer and director. Since 2008, he has worked for the Lighting Design Group Inc. at CNN, where he has permanent spots on three shows: “Cuomo Prime Time,” “Anderson Cooper Full Circle” (a Facebook Live show), and “Quest Means Business” on CNN International. He floats on other shows, including “The Van Jones Show.”

Rousseau has won two Emmys — in 2012 for NBC News coverage of presidential election night and in 2016 for the special event “CNN Heroes.” We caught up with him on the set of “The Van Jones Show” at the CNN studios near New York City’s Columbus Circle.

Read the full story at magazine.uconn.edu.