Diana Williams
| Diana Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 18, 1958 Columbus, Ohio |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Duke University |
| Occupation | Television news anchor |
| Spouse(s) | Yes |
Diana Williams (born July 18, 1958[1]) is an American television journalist. She is a news anchor at WABC television in New York City, New York, where she co-anchors, with Sade Baderinwa, the one-hour 5 p.m. Eyewitness News broadcast; and hosts the Sunday morning public-affairs program Eyewitness News Up Close with Diana Williams, which airs on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m.
Biography
She was born on July 18, 1958.
She graduated from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in 1980 with a degree in economics.
After interning at WTVD in Durham, Williams began her television career in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she worked as a reporter at WSOC and then as a weeknight anchor at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. at WBTV. From 1987 to 1991, she worked at WNEV (now WHDH) in Boston, Massachusetts.
WABC
Williams joined WABC in 1991 as a reporter and eventually became a weekend anchor. Within a year, she was a co-anchor of the station's 11 p.m. Eyewitness News newscast with Bill Beutel. In 1999, Williams joined Beutel on the 6 p.m. newscast as well, becoming Beutel's first co-anchor at 6 p.m. since the departure of Roger Grimsby in 1986.
Beginning in 1999, she co-anchored the 11 p.m. newscast with Bill Ritter (journalist), later doing the 6 p.m. newscast with him in 2001, as well, following Beutel's retirement. Williams joined the 5 p.m. newscast in 2003, first alongside Roz Abrams, making them the first successful female evening anchor team in New York City television history, and later with Sade Baderinwa.
She has traveled the world covering stories for Eyewitness News, including to Ireland and Israel to report on conflicts. But most of her travels were with Pope John Paul II, most notably, his historic visit to Israel in 2000. Williams also traveled with the Pope to Baltimore, Maryland; Mexico City, Mexico; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She covered the September 11, 2001, attacks and for its tenth anniversary in 2011, Williams reported from outside The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia.
Williams has also covered politics extensively, from the fall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2008; to the elections of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2001, 2005 and 2009; and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in 2009. She has been to every U.S. presidential nominating convention beginning with the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City.
She won an Emmy Award for her half-hour special called Dangerous Crossings that focused on the immigration issues along the Mexican and Arizona border. She has also won awards for her yearly breast-cancer specials and has hosted the "Making Strides against Breast Cancer" Walk(s) for the American Cancer Society for over 17 years.
Personal life
Williams, her husband and three children reside in Westchester County, New York.
She serves on the board of the National Eating Disorders Association and also on the Duke University Library Advisory Board.
Williams is an avid tennis player and runner – in November 2010, she ran the New York City Marathon. But her passion is hiking and mountaineering. She and her son, Nathaniel, climbed Tanzanian Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, in July 2007. Williams blogged about the climb using a satellite phone and took a camera to videotape the journey. She returned with several reports on the trip. She summitted the mountain on July 23, 2007, just after 1 a.m. New York City time. On September 23, 2008, Williams received the Tanzanian Award for her reporting on the climb.
She has also climbed Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, California; Mount Rainier, southeast of Seattle, Washington; Mount Washington in New Hampshire; Pikes Peak, west of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Mount Fuji in Japan; and the Pitons in Saint Lucia. Williams has also hiked many of the backcountry trails in the U.S. National Parks.
See also
- List of American journalists
- List of climbers, alpinists and mountaineers
- List of Duke University people
- List of people from Boston
- List of people from Charlotte
- List of people from New York City
References
External links
- Diana Williams at the Internet Movie Database
- Staff (undated). "Meet the Team – Diana Williams". WABC-TV. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- Karger, Dave (undated). "Duke University Alumni Duking It Out: New York Anchors Weigh In". Duke Magazine. Retrieved March 12, 2012.