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Gwen Ifill

About Gwen

In Memoriam: Gwen Ifill was the moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and co-anchor and managing editor for "The PBS NEWSHOUR w/ Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff."

The best-selling author of "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," (Doubleday, 2009), she also moderated the Vice Presidential debates during the Presidential elections in 2004 and 2008.

Gwen covered eight Presidential campaigns, and during the 2008 campaign season, won the George Foster Peabody Award after bringing Washington Week to live audiences around the country as part of a 10-city tour.

Now in its 49th year, Washington Week is the longest-running prime-time news and public affairs program on television. Each week, Gwen brought together some of the best journalists in Washington to discuss the major stories of the week with the reporters who actually cover the news that emanates from the nation's capital and affects the nation and the world.

Gwen joined both Washington Week and PBS NewsHour in 1999, interviewing newsmakers and reporting on issues ranging from foreign affairs to politics. Before coming to PBS, she was chief congressional and political correspondent for NBC News, White House correspondent for The New York Times, and a local and national political reporter for The Washington Post. She also reported for the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Boston Herald American.

"I always knew I wanted to be a journalist, and my first love was newspapers," Ifill said. "But public broadcasting provides the best of both worlds-combining the depth of newspapering with the immediate impact of broadcast television."

A native of New York City and a graduate of Simmons College in Boston, Ifill received more than 25 honorary doctorates. In 2015 she was awarded with the National Press Club's highest honor, the Fourth Estate Award. She has also been honored for her work by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center, The National Association of Black Journalists, Ohio University, and was included in Ebony Magazine's list of 150 Most Influential African Americans.

She also served on the board of the News Literacy Project, on the advisory board of the Committee to Protect Journalists and was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Remembering Gwen Ifill

Full Bio

Gwen’s Recent Stories

Politics Dec 20

Gwen’s Take: Taking yes for an answer

It is apparently safe to use the word "compromise" again. Vladimir Putin is granting pardons to his enemies (it took a decade, but still). Nine U.S. senators this week dared to stray from the Republican fold to endorse a modest…

Politics Dec 13

Gwen’s Take: Of handshakes, selfies and budget deals

You've got to hand it to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. He's consistent. No wishy-washy budget deals for him. Only all or nothing will do. So he and another half-dozen conservatives denounced the budget compromise reached by fellow Republican Rep. Paul…

World Dec 06

Gwen’s Take: Meeting Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela, seen here in 1990 embracing a young girl from Soweto, inspired South Africans and the world with his message of peace. He was also a shrewd politician who knew how to fight the necessary battles. Photo by Alexander…

Nation Nov 22

Gwen’s Take: navel gazing and other news dilemmas

Working in the news business means making critical decisions every day. Everything we choose to cover -- and more importantly, the stories we do not cover -- is affected by judgment (much of it subjective) and resources. So with…

Nation Nov 15

Gwen’s Take: The art of the kicked can

The coin of the realm in Washington, D.C., is delay. Can't agree on whether to raise the debt ceiling? Put it off. Unable to pass a budget to keep the government open? Put a patch on it. Impossible to stop…

Politics Nov 08

Gwen’s take: A tale of two missed connections

When Vice President Joe Biden called the wrong Marty Walsh on Tuesday to congratulate him on winning the Boston mayor's race, he was not the only politician struggling with mixed signals that night. Biden could be forgiven for the…

Nation Oct 25

Gwen’s Take: ‘Glitches’ then and now

OK, boys and girls. It's time for another fun trip in the way-way-back-machine. You will remember that just a few weeks ago, I took you back to a 1995 Washington Week discussion about government shutdowns that sounded awfully, awfully…

Politics Oct 04

Gwen’s Take: Déjà vu all over again

If it seems like we've been here before, you are not hallucinating. The president, on the stump once again this week, is accusing Republicans of gross irresponsibility. "You don't get to demand ransom for doing your most basic job!" President…

Politics Sep 27

Gwen’s Take: The Threat Matrix

From Pennsylvania Avenue to Capitol Hill; from the United Nations to Tehran ... everybody seems to be talking tough. Hassan Rouhani, the suddenly accessible new President of Iran, declared in more than one venue this week that he is a…

Politics Sep 20

Gwen’s Take: The Art of the Showdown

First rule: Don't blink. Someone will have to, but not just yet. From Ted Cruz and John Boehner to Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani, lawmakers, politicians, dictators and future Presidents have all perfected the art of digging their heels into…

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