Gwen Ifill, a skilled and knowledgeable news moderator

Gwen Ifill

Gwen Ifill was born on this date in 1955. She is an African-American journalist.
She was born in Queens, New York City, the daughter of O. Urcille Ifill, Sr., a Methodist preacher, and Eleanor IFill. She has a sister and brother, Maria Ifill Philip and Roberto.

In 1977, she graduated from Simmons College in Boston, where she majored in communications. Through an internship, she got her first hands-on experience as a journalist.

She has worked for the Boston Herald, the Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC, and PBS. Ifill became a moderator of the PBS program, Washington Week in Review, in October 1999, and is also senior correspondent for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. On October 5, 2004, she moderated the vice presidential debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards. In 2008, she moderated the vice presidential debate between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin.

Ifill serves on the board of the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Museum of Television and Radio, and the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Ifill has also received 15 honorary degrees.

Reference:
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