Robin Roberts (born November 23, 1960) is an American television broadcaster who co-anchors ABC's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

''. After growing up in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and attending

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it beca ...

, Roberts was a sports anchor for local TV and radio stations. Roberts was a sportscaster on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

for 15 years (1990–2005) and the first woman to co-host NFL Primetime. She became co-anchor on ''Good Morning America'' in 2005. Roberts was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in 2012. Her treatment for

myelodysplastic syndrome A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may includ ...

was chronicled on the program, which earned a 2012

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

for the coverage.

Early life

Roberts was born in Tuskegee,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and grew up in Pass Christian,

, where she played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, among other sports. She attended Pass Christian High School and graduated as the class of 1979

salutatorian Salutatorian is an academic title given in Armenia, the Philippines, Canada, Afghanistan and the United States to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. ...

. She is the daughter of Lucimarian (née Tolliver) and Colonel Lawrence E. Roberts, who was a Tuskegee Airman. In a 2006 presentation to the student body at

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

, Roberts credited her parents as cultivating the "three 'D's: Discipline, Determination, and 'De Lord.'" She is the youngest of four, following siblings Sally-Ann, Lawrence Jr. (nicknamed Butch), and Dorothy. Her father was a pilot with the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of th ...

Education

Roberts attended

in Hammond,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, graduating ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' in 1983 with a degree in

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

. She followed in the footsteps of her older sister Sally-Ann Roberts, an anchor at the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliate

WWL-TV WWL-TV (channel 4) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Slidell, Louisiana, Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL (channel 54). The two stations share st ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Roberts noted on the January 14, 2007, edition of '' Costas on the Radio'' that she was offered a scholarship to play basketball at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, but thought the school was too big and impersonal after visiting the campus. On her way back to Pass Christian from that visit, she saw a road sign for Southeastern Louisiana University, stopped to visit and decided to enroll. The only

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

left was a tennis scholarship, and she was promised that there would be a

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

scholarship by the time she would graduate. She went on to become a standout performer on the women's basketball team, ending her career as the school's third all-time leading scorer (1,446 points) and rebounder (1,034). Roberts is one of only three Lady Lions to score 1,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds. During her senior season, she averaged a career-high 27.6 points per game. On February 5, 2011, Southeastern hosted a ceremony to retire Roberts' jersey, number 21.

Broadcasting career

Roberts began her career in 1983 as a sports anchor and

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

for

WDAM-TV WDAM-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Laurel, Mississippi, United States, serving the Hattiesburg area as an affiliate of NBC and American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power broadcasting#Te ...

Hattiesburg Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 48,730 in 2020, making it the 5th m ...

, Mississippi. In 1984, she moved to WLOX-TV in

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

. In 1986, she was sports anchor and reporter for

WSMV-TV WSMV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTNX-LD (channel 29). The two stations share studios on Knob Road i ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. From 1988 to 1990 she was a sports anchor and reporter at

WAGA-TV WAGA-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, serving as the market's Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains st ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. While in Atlanta, she was also a radio host for radio station V-103.

ESPN and ABC News

Robin Roberts at Heart Truth 2010 cropped

She joined

as a sportscaster in February 1990, where she stayed until 2005. On ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

'', she used the catchphrase, "Go on with your bad self!" Roberts began to work for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, specifically as a featured reporter for ''

'' in June 1995. During this period, Roberts was also the host for ''

ABC's Wide World of Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

'' from 1996 to 1998. Roberts worked at both ESPN and ''Good Morning America'', contributing to both programs. During that time, she served primarily as the news anchor at ''GMA''. In 2005, Roberts was promoted to co-

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

of ''Good Morning America''. In December 2009, Roberts was joined by

George Stephanopoulos George Robert Stephanopoulos (born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a news presenter, coanchor with Robin Roberts (newscaster), Robin Roberts and M ...

as co-anchor of ''GMA'' after

Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20 (U.S. TV series), 20/20'', and ...

left to anchor ''

ABC World News ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

''. Under their partnership, the Roberts-Stephanopoulos team led ''Good Morning America'' back to the top of the ratings; the program became the number-one morning show again in April 2012, beating

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', which had held the top spot for the previous 16 years. In the fall of 2005, Roberts anchored a series of emotional reports from the Mississippi

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

after it was devastated by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

; her hometown of Pass Christian was especially hard hit, with her old high school reduced to rubble. On February 22, 2009, Roberts hosted the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

preshow for ABC, and did so again in 2011. In 2010, Roberts guest-starred on

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

's ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...

'', appearing in season 4, episode 10, "Can You See the Real Me?" On May 30, 2010, Roberts drove the Pace Car for the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Roberts was inducted into the

as part of the Hall's class of 2012 for her contributions to and impact on the game of women's basketball through her broadcasting work and play. In 2014 Roberts was named one of ESPNW's Impact 25. Robin Roberts interviewing Barack Obama

On May 19, 2018, Roberts co-anchored the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. Roberts served as a guest host on ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

'' for five episodes airing July 19–23, 2021, following the death of

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian and American game show host and television personality. He was best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 seasons ...

in November 2020. Roberts is the host of the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

interview series ''Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts'', which debuted in 2021.

Other activities

She performed as an

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

backup singer/former member of the Barden Bellas in '' Pitch Perfect 2''. In 2014, she started her own production company, Rock'n Robin Productions. Roberts, whose father was a Tuskegee Airman, executive-produced and narrated the one-hour documentary ''Tuskegee Airmen: Legacy of Courage'' which premiered on

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

on February 10, 2021.

Awards and honors

* 2001: Mel Greenberg Media Award, presented by the WBCA. * 2004: Billie Jean King Contribution Award * 2008: WNBA Inspiration Award * 2012: Inductee,

* 2014: Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism * 2016: inductee, the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame * 2015: honorary Harlem Globetrotter, the tenth person to be given this award * 2018: Radio Television Digital News Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award recipient * 2018:

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...

Distinguished Service Award * 2019: NBA Sager Strong Award * 2019: For their first match of March 2019, the women of the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

each wore a jersey with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back; Alyssa Naeher chose to honor Roberts. * April 2022: Roberts celebrated her 20th anniversary with ''Good Morning America'', during which an on-air celebration was held with Roberts being honored with a plaque featuring her name on the grounds of Time Square. * 2023: Out100 * 2024: Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism, presented by the

Poynter Institute The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netw ...

Personal life

Roberts is

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

and a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation. Roberts began a romantic relationship with massage therapist Amber Laign in 2005. Though friends and co-workers had known about her same-sex relationships, Roberts publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation for the first time in late December 2013. In 2015, she was named by Equality Forum as one of their 31 Icons of the 2015 LGBT History Month. In September 2023, Roberts and Laign married. On October 10, 2018, Roberts was selected as a mentor for Disney's #DreamBigPrincess campaign.

Health

In 2007, Roberts was diagnosed with an early form of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. She underwent surgery on August 3, and by January 2008 had completed eight

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

treatments. In 2012, she was diagnosed with

(MDS), a disease of the bone marrow. Be the Match Registry, a nonprofit organization run by the National Marrow Donor Program, experienced an 1,800 percent spike in donors the day Roberts went public with her illness. She took a leave from ''GMA'' to get a

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...

transplant, and went home in October 2012. She returned to ''GMA'' on February 20, 2013. Roberts received a 2012 Peabody Award for how she engaged the public about her disease. The Peabody citation credits her for "allowing her network to document and build a public service campaign around her battle with rare disease" and "inspir nghundreds of potential bone marrow donors to register and heighten ngawareness of the need for even more donors." ESPN awarded its Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Roberts at the 2013 ESPYs, and the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

awarded her the Sager Strong Award at its award ceremony on June 20, 2019.

Books

* * * *

Audiobooks

References

External links

* * *
"Roberts Q&A on post-Katrina trip"
abcnews.go.com. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
RocknRobin
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Robin 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American writers African-American non-fiction writers African-American journalists African-American sports announcers African-American television personalities African-American women journalists African-American women writers American horse racing announcers American memoirists American non-fiction writers American television news anchors American television sports anchors American television sports announcers American women television journalists American women's basketball players Basketball players from Louisiana Basketball players from Mississippi College basketball announcers in the United States Figure skating commentators American golf commentators Lesbian journalists American lesbian sportswomen American lesbian writers African-American LGBTQ people LGBTQ basketball players American LGBTQ broadcasters LGBTQ Protestants American LGBTQ journalists LGBTQ people from Alabama LGBTQ people from Mississippi Living people NFL announcers Peabody Award winners People from Pass Christian, Mississippi People from Tuskegee, Alabama Presbyterians from New York (state) Southeastern Louisiana University alumni American tennis commentators Wide World of Sports (American TV program) American women memoirists American women sports commentators Women's college basketball announcers in the United States Writers from Alabama Writers from Mississippi 1960 births 20th-century American sportswomen