Aaron Brown, an anchor who earned widespread praise for incisive reporting and calm demeanor during CNN’s coverage of 9/11, has died. He was 76. Brown died on Sunday, the network said, quoting a statement from his family.

A Minnesota native, Brown attended the University of Minnesota as a political science major before joining the U.S. Coast Guard reserves.

The founding anchor of ABC's 'World News Now' and CNN's 'NewsNight' programs distinguished himself with coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.