Amna Nawaz is an American broadcast journalist. She is chief correspondent and substitute anchor for the ''

PBS NewsHour ''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 pro ...

''. Before joining PBS in April 2018, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

and

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

. She has received a number of awards, including an Emmy Award and a Society for Features Journalism award.

Early life and career

Nawaz was born in Virginia on September 18, 1979, to Pakistani parents. Her father, Shuja Nawaz (brother of Pakistani Army chief Asif Nawaz Janjua), had been a journalist in Pakistan. She attended

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (also known as TJHSST, TJ, or Jefferson) is a Virginia state-chartered magnet high school in Fairfax County, Virginia operated by Fairfax County Public Schools. The school occupies the buil ...

in Fairfax County, Virginia. In 2001, she earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in politics, philosophy, and economics, where she co-captained the women's varsity field hockey team. She holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in comparative politics from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. Nawaz's career plan was to become a lawyer but after a fellowship at ABC News, she shifted to journalism. She initially worked for '' Nightline''.

Journalism

Nawaz joined NBC in 2003, later joining ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasio ...

'', where she worked on documentaries. At NBC's investigative unit, she was a producer of ''Mortgage Crisis Investigations'', which was nominated for the 2008 Emmy Awards for Business & Financial Reporting. Nawaz received an International Reporting Project fellowship in 2009. In 2010, she shared a

News & Documentary Emmy Award The News & Documentary Emmy Awards, or News & Documentary Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sci ...

for the

special ''Inside the Obama White House''. Later she was correspondent and bureau chief at NBC's

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

bureau. Nawaz joined

in 2015. She anchored U.S. election and national political coverage in 2016 and 2017. Nawaz also hosted the ABC podcast series ''Uncomfortable''. She joined

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in April 2018. Nawaz contributed as a correspondent on the

's 2018 series ''The Plastic Problem'', which received a Peabody Award in 2019. In December 2019, Nawaz became the first Asian American and first Muslim to moderate a United States presidential debate when she co-moderated a Democratic Party presidential debate. In June 2021, Nawaz became the PBS NewsHour's Chief Correspondent. In November 2022, she and Geoff Bennett were named co-anchors of the ''PBS NewsHour'', starting in January 2023, replacing

Judy Woodruff Judy Carline Woodruff (born November 20, 1946) is an American broadcast journalist who has worked in network, cable, and public television news since 1976. She is the anchor and managing editor of ''PBS NewsHour''. Woodruff has covered every presi ...

. Nawaz is also a member of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington, District of Columbia based think tank.

Awards

* News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing * Society for Features Journalism award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nawaz, Amna 1979 births Living people American expatriates in Pakistan American expatriates in the United Kingdom American people of Pakistani descent American women television journalists American writers of Pakistani descent ABC News personalities NBC News people PBS people Punjabi people American people of Punjabi descent Journalists from Virginia University of Pennsylvania alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women Members of the Inter-American Dialogue Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology alumni