Adele Arakawa (born August 31, 1957) is a retired American evening news anchor for NBC affiliate station

KUSA-TV KUSA (channel 9) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KTVD (channel 20). Both stations share studios on East Speer Boulevard in Denver's S ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. As of June 2007, she provides the female voice of the airport train system at

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , locally known as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , it is the largest airport in ...

. She retired on June 30, 2017. She is also the voice of Denver’s RTD Light Rail trains, announcing stations, stops and destinations.

Early life and education

Born Adele Hausser, Arakawa was raised in Hawaii and later east Tennessee. At age 16, she began taking college courses at

Tennessee Tech University Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a Public university, public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as ...

and working as a radio disc jockey in her hometown of

La Follette, Tennessee LaFollette is a city in Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 7,456 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, with an estimated population in 2018 of 6,737. It is the principal city of the LaFollette, Tennessee micropo ...

. She also attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

but dropped out after her freshman year.

Professional career

Following her entry into radio, Arakawa worked as a radio news anchor at WYSH in

Clinton, Tennessee Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, Tennessee, United States. Clinton is included in the Knoxville metropolitan area. Its population was 10,056 at the 2020 census. History Prehistoric Native American habitation was no ...

and as a disc jockey at

WRJZ WRJZ (620 AM) is a Christian talk radio station in Knoxville, TN that broadcasts with 5,000 watts in a non-directional daytime pattern and a five-lobed night-time directional pattern. It is owned by Tennessee Media Associates. Programming Bob Be ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. In 1981, Arakawa made the transition to television news, working at

WTVK WXCW (channel 46) television station licensed to Naples, Florida, United States, serving Southwest Florida as an affiliate of The CW. It is locally owned by Sun Broadcasting alongside two low-power stations: Univision affiliate WUVF-LD (channel ...

in weather in Knoxville where she began using her mother's maiden name, Arakawa, at the suggestion of news director Hal Wanzer. Two years later, she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to coanchor weekday evening newscasts for

WRAL-TV WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which h ...

with Charlie Gaddy and weatherman Bob Debardelaben. Arakawa's career next took the family to Chicago in 1989, where she again anchored weekday evening newscasts, this time for CBS O&O

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Stre ...

. In 1993, she became a weekday evening newscast anchor for

in Denver. On December 6, 2016, she announced her retirement after 40 years in broadcasting. Her last day was June 30, 2017. Arakawa was president of the Asian American Journalists Association in 1992 in Chicago and is a member of both the

Japanese American Citizens League The is an Asian American civil rights charity, headquartered in San Francisco, with regional chapters across the United States. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) describes itself as the oldest and largest Asian American civil right ...

and the Japanese American Service Committee. Two of her grandparents were from Okinawa, Japan.

Personal life

Arakawa married her husband, Barry Tiller, in July 1977. Since retiring, she has lived in Tucson, Arizona. Arakawa used to race cars competitively, and as of her retirement was still driving a race car on a road course.

Awards

*1992: National Award, Asian American Issues (Television),

Asian American Journalists Association The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current presi ...

*1997: Best News Anchor, Heartland Chapter,

National Television Academy The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

*1999: Best News Anchor, Heartland Chapter, National Television Academy *2001: Outstanding Daily Newscast, Markets 1-50 (with team), Heartland Chapter, National Television Academy : Best Interview / Discussion Program (with team), Heartland Chapter, National Television Academy *2004: Best News Anchor (tie), Heartland Chapter, National Television Academy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arakawa, Adele 1957 births American writers of Japanese descent Television anchors from Denver Living people People from LaFollette, Tennessee American women television journalists American women journalists of Asian descent 21st-century American women