20 Facts About Charles Royer

Charles Theodore Royer was an American news reporter and politician who served as the 48th mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1978 to 1990.

Charles Royer was born in Medford, Oregon, and graduated from high school in 1957.

Charles Royer earned a baseball scholarship from Portland State College and was a part-time employee in the advertising department for the Oregon Journal during college.

Charles Royer dropped out from college to work for Sears but was drafted by the US Army in 1961; he worked at a post newspaper at Fort Hood, Texas, and later in Fort Stewart in Georgia.

Charles Royer enrolled at the University of Oregon and majored in journalism and worked part-time at KEZI-TV in Eugene, Oregon, alongside his younger brother Bob, and later KVAL-TV.

Charles Royer graduated from the University of Oregon in 1966 and spent six years as a political reporter for KOIN in Portland, Oregon.

Charles Royer briefly worked on the East Coast and was a visiting associate at the Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies from 1969 to 1970.

Charles Royer received an award from the American Political Science Association for distinguished public affairs reporting in 1969.

Charles Royer returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1970, when he joined KING-TV in Seattle as a news analyst and shared a beat with his brother Bob.

In 1975, Royer received the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service award and the Edward R Murrow award for editorializing on television.

Charles Royer was awarded a fellowship to study government and public policy at the Washington, DC Journalism Center.

In 1977, Charles Royer defeated 13 other candidates to become the mayor of Seattle.

Charles Royer oversaw a number of improvements in the city, including a recycling program that has been recognized as the best in the nation.

Charles Royer's administration tackled social issues such as poverty, teenage pregnancy and drugs.

In 1983, following the death of senator Henry Jackson, Charles Royer ran as a Democrat in the subsequent special election.

In 1990, Royer succeeded Richard Thornburgh as director of the Harvard Institute of Politics at the John F Kennedy School of Government.

From 1995 to 2006, Charles Royer served as director of the National Program Office for the Urban Health Initiative, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In 2007, Charles Royer became founding partner in the consulting firm The Charles Royer Group which provides professional consulting services in public policy development, governmental liaison, public finance, business and leadership development, marketing communications and program management.

Charles Royer was considered as a possible appointment as King County Executive, a position vacated in May 2009 when Ron Sims was appointed Deputy Director of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development by the Obama administration.

Charles Royer died at his home in Gearhart, Oregon, on July 26,2024, at the age of 84.