Phil Ponce (born September 26, 1949) is an American journalist and television presenter. Ponce is notable as a Chicago television journalist who hosts ''Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices'', a weekly television magazine of news and culture in Chicago's predominantly Latino communities. It airs on weekends, along with

Chicago Tonight ''Chicago Tonight'' is a television news program broadcast weeknights on WTTW in Chicago. It reports primarily on local politics, education, business, culture, science and health, with a mix of in-studio panel discussions, one-on-one interviews ...

and ''Chicago Tonight: Black Voices'', on

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). The ...

11.

Early life

Ponce was born on 1949 in

McAllen, Texas McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...

, but was raised in

East Chicago East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing act ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He graduated from

Bishop Noll Institute Bishop Noll Institute is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Hammond, Indiana. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary. History The school opened as Catholic Central High School on September 16, 1921. It was founded by the Sisters ...

in Hammond, Indiana. He then attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

and received a B.A. in English in 1971. In 1974 he received a J.D. from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Ponce's parents both were steelworkers. During college, Ponce worked as a steelworker during summers.

Career

Ponce began his career as a lawyer. He practiced law for six years before going into broadcasting. Ponce got his first job in broadcasting as a weekend reporter for an ABC affiliate in Indianapolis. In 1982 he joined the Chicago CBS station

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 ...

as a reporter. Ponce left WBBM-TV in late 1991 to take a position as manager of international communications for the telecommunications company

Ameritech AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., formerly known as Ameritech Corporation (and before that American Information Technologies Corporation), is an American telecommunications company that arose out of the 1984 AT&T divestiture. Ameritech was one of the se ...

Corporation. In 1992, Ponce began his career at WTTW11 as a correspondent for ''

''— a position he held until 1997 when he left to become one of Jim Lehrer's supporting anchors on the national PBS show, ''

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the prog ...

''. He returned to Chicago two years later as the successor to long-time ''Chicago Tonight'' host, John Callaway (Callaway later hosted WTTW's ''Friday Night'' program). Ponce also teaches journalism at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

where he is the university's distinguished journalist in residence. He has received numerous awards for his work. In 2007, he was an honorary inductee into

Alpha Sigma Nu Alpha Sigma Nu () is the honor society of Jesuit colleges and universities. ΑΣΝ is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies. Founded in 1915 at Marquette University as Alpha Sigma Tau, it adopted the current name in 1930. The ...

, the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

honor society. Other awards include Illinois Journalist of the Year, the

Studs Terkel Award Stud may refer to the following terms: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay bar ...

and the IU Latino Alumni Award. In late 2017, Ponce announced that he would reduce his workload to three days a week during 2018 and two days a week in 2019.

Personal life

Ponce's wife, Ann Ponce, is a Chicago portrait and landscape artist. Ponce's daughter, Maria Ponce, is a photographer in Chicago. Ponce also has two sons.

Dan Ponce Dan Ponce (born December 7, 1976 in Illinois) is a Chicago television journalist for WGN-TV, radio talk show host on WLS-AM (890) and founder of the a cappella group Straight No Chaser. Career and background Ponce's TV career began in 2005 when ...

is the founder of the a cappella group, Straight No Chaser, and was a television reporter with ABC7 (

WLS-TV WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North State S ...

) in Chicago for three years until leaving in January 2009. Dan is currently a morning anchor at WGN Ch. 9. His other son,

Anthony Ponce Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...

, was a television reporter with NBC5 (

WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo outlet WSNS-TV (chan ...

), and is now a morning anchor at WFLD Ch. 32, also in Chicago. All have degrees from

and Ponce's sons also have graduate degrees from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

. Ponce lives in

Ravenswood, Chicago Ravenswood is a neighborhood located on the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois. Lacking designation as one of Chicago's 77 well-defined community areas, it is mostly situated in the Lincoln Square community area, with the portion east ...

.Phil Ponce of WTTW lists house for a little over $1 million
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponce, Phil 1949 births Living people Television anchors from Chicago Television anchors from Indianapolis Indiana University alumni People from McAllen, Texas University of Michigan Law School alumni Loyola University Chicago faculty