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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

Arts Feb 26

My Friend Who Made History

Charlayne Hunter-Gault broke barriers when she arrived to the University of Georgia in 1961. Her strength and fortitude allowed her to thrive on a racially hostile campus would serve her in her future career as an award-winning journalist.

Politics Oct 18

Judy’s Notebook: Women Wanted

A woman's shoes at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images Now that both campaigns are focusing more openly on women voters, my question is: what took them so long? It was in 1920 - long…

Politics Oct 02

Judy’s Notebook: It Matters

A man walks through the media center Monday as preparations continue for the first presidential debate at Magness Arena at the University of Denver. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB Whether or not one candidate or the other scores a "knockout…

Politics Sep 26

Judy’s Notebook: The Youngest One-Fourth of Us

Students at Ohio State University cast their votes at a campus polling place November 4, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio. Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images. Other than their age and their massive numbers, what's different about what voters under 30 are…

Politics Aug 22

Judy’s Notebook: Conventions, Here We Come!

Balloons drop from the ceiling at the end of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. Conventions! I confess I love them. And I'm fascinated by the political people who go to them.

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