Judy Woodruff

About Judy

Judy Woodruff is a senior correspondent and the former anchor and managing editor of the PBS News Hour. She has covered politics and other news for five decades at NBC, CNN and PBS.

At PBS from 1983 to 1993, she was the chief Washington correspondent for the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. From 1984 – 1990, she also anchored PBS' award-winning documentary series, "Frontline with Judy Woodruff." Moving to CNN in 1993, she served as anchor and senior correspondent for 12 years; among other duties, she anchored the weekday program "Inside Politics." She returned to the News Hour in 2007, and in 2013, she and the late Gwen Ifill were named the first two women to co-anchor a national news broadcast. After Ifill's death, Woodruff was named sole anchor.

In 2011, Judy was the anchor and reporter for the PBS documentary "Nancy Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime." And in 2007, she completed an extensive project on the views of young Americans, titled "Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard." Two hour-long documentaries aired on PBS, along with a series of reports on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NPR, in USA Today and on Yahoo News.

From 2006 – 2013, Judy anchored a monthly program for Bloomberg Television, "Conversations with Judy Woodruff." In 2006, she was a visiting professor at Duke University's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. In 2005, she was a visiting fellow at Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

At NBC News, Woodruff was White House correspondent from 1977 to 1982. For one year after that she served as NBC's Today Show chief Washington correspondent. She wrote the book, This is Judy Woodruff at the White House, published in 1982 by Addison-Wesley. Her reporting career began in Atlanta, Georgia, where she covered state and local government.

Woodruff is a founding co-chair of the International Women's Media Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging women in journalism and communication industries worldwide. She serves on the boards of trustee of the Freedom Forum, The Duke Endowment and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and is a director of Public Radio International and the National Association to End Homelessness. She is a former member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, a former director of the National Museum of American History and a former trustee of the Urban Institute.

Judy is a graduate of Duke University, where she is a trustee emerita.

She is the recent recipient of an Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the Radcliffe Medal, the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism, the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from Arizona State University.

She is the recipient of more than 25 honorary degrees.

Judy lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, journalist Al Hunt, and they are the parents of three children: Jeffrey, Benjamin and Lauren.

Full Bio

Judy’s Recent Stories

Nation Aug 07

Remembering 5 victims of the coronavirus pandemic

As another difficult week comes to a close, we want to take the time to remember some of the people who have lost their lives to the coronavirus. Judy Woodruff shares the stories of five victims, including a 29-year-old California…

Nation Jul 30

Remembering John Lewis, an American civil rights icon

The United States bid a final farewell to John Lewis in Atlanta Thursday, after more than a week of observations in his honor. A congressman and lifelong activist, Lewis endured threats, repeated imprisonment and physical violence to fight for civil…

Nation Jul 30

At John Lewis’ Atlanta funeral, a legacy of heroism and hope

On Thursday, luminaries and locals alike joined in a final farewell for John Lewis at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, the historic location where Lewis himself worshiped. Speakers including three former presidents -- Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama…

Health Jul 17

How Fauci says the U.S. can get control of the pandemic

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is one of the country's top public health experts. He was initially a prominent figure at Coronavirus Task Force briefings -- but recently, he has been the…

Nation Jul 10

Remembering 5 people lost to coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic is exacting a devastating toll on families and communities across the United States. Each week, we want to remember some of the tens of thousands of lives we have lost. Judy Woodruff shares five more stories.

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