Gwen Ifill joined The NewsHour in October 1999 as a Washington-based senior correspondent responsible for conducting newsmaker interviews, studio discussions and debates, reporting from the field and serving as a backup anchor to Jim Lehrer.

Also in October 1999, Ifill became the new moderator for PBS' acclaimed Washington Week, a weekly roundtable discussion and analysis of current events in the nation's capital. She had served as a frequent guest panelist on the show as well as on NBC's Meet the Press.

Ifill came to The NewsHour after five years with NBC News where she covered politics, public affairs and national trends for The Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Today and MSNBC.

A veteran journalist, Ifill covered the White House, Congress, presidential campaigns and government for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Evening Sun and The Boston Herald American.

She also covered Bill Clinton's rise from obscure Southern governor to president of the United States in 1992 and 1993.

Ifill moderated the first vice presidential debate of the 2004 presidential campaign.

A native of New York City and a graduate of Simmons College in Boston, Mass., Ifill has also received more than a dozen honorary degrees. She serves on the boards of Harvard University's Institute of Politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism.