Judy Woodruff

Judy Woodruff

Woodruff in 2012
Born November 20, 1946
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater Meredith College
Duke University
Occupation Journalist
Television anchor
Writer
Years active Since 1970
Spouse(s) Al Hunt

Judy Woodruff (born November 20, 1946) is an American television news anchor, journalist, and writer. Woodruff has worked at several television organizations, including CNN, NBC News, and PBS.

She is a board member at the International Women's Media Foundation[1] and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[2]

Early life and education

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Anita Lee (Payne) Woodruff and U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer William H. Woodruff, she has one sister, Anita.[3] At 17, she won a hometown beauty pageant and was crowned Young Miss Augusta 1963.[4] Woodruff attended Meredith College before transferring to Duke University, where she earned a degree in political science.[4][5]

Career

Woodruff began her career at then CBS affiliate WAGA-TV, in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was a news anchor from 1970 to 1975. She joined NBC News in 1975, and was originally based in Atlanta, where she covered the 1976 U.S. presidential campaign of then-Georgia governor Jimmy Carter.[6] She was the chief White House correspondent for NBC News from 1977 to 1982, and covered Washington, for NBC's The Today Show from 1982 to 1983.

In 1983, Woodruff moved to PBS, where for 10 years she was chief Washington correspondent for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. From 1984 to 1990, she also hosted the PBS documentary series Frontline With Judy Woodruff.

In 1993, she joined CNN, where for 12 years she hosted Inside Politics.[7] Woodruff stayed with CNN until 2005 when she decided not to renew her contract, looking toward teaching, writing, and working on documentaries. CNN founder Ted Turner stated in a May 7, 2009, interview on The Diane Rehm Show that he was upset that CNN had let Woodruff go.[8]

In August 2005, Woodruff was named a visiting fellow for the fall semester at Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. She had previously taught a course in media and politics at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy.

In 2006, she returned to PBS to work on Generation Next, a documentary about American young people and their characteristics, values, and thoughts on family, faith, politics, and world events—produced in conjunction with MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. Generation Next partnered with USA Today, Yahoo! News, and NPR. Also in 2006, Woodruff contributed as a guest correspondent to the National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition week-long series "Muslims in America", as part of NPR's fifth-year observance of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

On February 5, 2007, Woodruff returned to PBS on The News Hour With Jim Lehrer full-time as senior correspondent, editor of 2008 political coverage, and substitute anchor. As of early 2007, she was also working on Part 2 of the Generation Next documentary for PBS.[9]

Since 2006, she has also anchored a weekly program, Conversations With Judy Woodruff, for Bloomberg Television. Streaming video podcasts of her monthly interviews are available at Bloomberg.com.[10]

Woodruff was selected to present the 2007 Red Smith Lecture in Journalism at the University of Notre Dame. The Red Smith lectureship annually selects renowned journalists to speak at the university to foster good writing and honor high journalistic standards.[11]

On August 6, 2013, the NewsHour named Woodruff and Gwen Ifill as co-anchors and co-managing editors of the broadcast. They will share anchor duties Monday through Thursday with Woodruff going it alone on Friday.[12]

Bibliography

She has published various books including This is Judy Woodruff at the White House (1982; ISBN 978-0-201-08850-2).

Professional memberships

Woodruff is a founding co-chairperson of the International Women's Media Foundation; she serves on the boards of trustees of the Freedom Forum and of the Freedom Forum's Newseum and is a member of the steering committee of the Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press. She sits on the advisory board for nonprofit America Abroad Media.[13]

Personal life

Woodruff is married to Al Hunt, formerly of CNN and The Wall Street Journal, now an executive editor of the Washington, D.C., bureau of Bloomberg News.[6] They have three children, including a son born with spina bifida.[6]

References

External links