Norah Morahan O'Donnell (born January 23, 1974) is an American television journalist who is a senior correspondent for CBS News and a contributing correspondent for ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

''. She is also the host of occasional '' Person to Person'' interview specials. Previously, she was the anchor of the ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...

'' between 2019 to 2025, co-anchor of '' CBS This Morning'' between 2012 to 2019, Chief White House Correspondent for

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

, and a substitute host for CBS's Sunday morning show ''

Face the Nation ''Face the Nation'' is a weekly news and Sunday morning talk show, morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and Television broadcasting, television network. Created by Frank Stanton (executive), Frank Stanton in 1954, ''Fa ...

''.

Early life and education

O'Donnell was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Noreen Bernadette (O'Kane) and Francis Lawrence O'Donnell, a medical doctor and U.S. Army officer.Stated on ''

Finding Your Roots ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is an American documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is com ...

'', January 13, 2021 Her parents are both of Irish descent, with roots in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, and

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

(meaning she is descended from both sides of the

Irish Border Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state ***Erse (disambiguatio ...

). Three of her grandparents were immigrants, and her maternal grandfather lived in the U.S. illegally for 16 years. When Norah was three, her family moved to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. When she was 10, the family spent two years in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, living in Yongsan Garrison as her father was assigned to work there. While an elementary student, she started her career in broadcasting by giving videotaped English lessons for the Korean Educational Development Institute.Norah O'Donnell revisits her childhood home in South Korea

The family moved back to San Antonio, where she attended Douglas MacArthur High School, from which she graduated in 1991. She then went on to attend

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, where she graduated in 1995 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in liberal studies in 2003.

Career

O'Donnell worked as a staff writer for '' Roll Call'', where she covered

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. She spent twelve years of her career at the NBC networks. A commentator for the '' Today Show'', Chief Washington Correspondent for

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

, and a White House correspondent for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

, O'Donnell was also a contributing anchor for '' MSNBC Live'' and an anchor on '' Weekend Today.'' O'Donnell reported for various NBC News broadcasts, including ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

'', '' The Today Show'', '' Dateline NBC'', and

. O'Donnell filled in for Chris Matthews as host of '' Hardball with Chris Matthews'' and was a regular pundit for '' The Chris Matthews Show''. Since joining CBS, she has served as anchor in several of its highest-rated shows, filling in for Scott Pelley on the ''

'' multiple times, the first being October 10, 2011. She was chief White House correspondent in 2011 and 2012, and became a co-anchor on '' CBS This Morning'' in fall of 2012. On May 6, 2019,

Susan Zirinsky Susan Zirinsky (born March 3, 1952) is an American journalism, journalist and News broadcasting, television news Television producer, producer. She served as the President of CBS News from January 2019 until April 2021, when she was succeeded by ...

, president of

, announced that O'Donnell had been named anchor and managing editor of the ''CBS Evening News'' beginning on July 15, 2019, and also would be the lead anchor of political events for the network and continue as a contributing correspondent for ''

''. She became the third woman after Connie Chung and Katie Couric to serve as the program's weeknight anchor. Her last broadcast of ''CBS This Morning'' was on May 16, 2019. On April 8, 2022, O'Donnell extended her contract with CBS News to remain as anchor of ''CBS Evening News'', through the 2024 election and afterward. In May of 2024, O'Donnell interviewed

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

for

. The interview made headlines for the Pope's discussion of

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

, gay marriage and Female Priests. In July 2024, O'Donnell announced that her tenure at ''

'' would end following the

2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...

, after which she would become a senior correspondent for

. On November 22, 2024, she announced that she would be leaving ''CBS Evening News'' on January 24, 2025, which was later moved up to January 23, 2025, due to the coverage of the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open.

Career timeline

* 1984: Language instructor for the Korean Educational Development Institute * 1994–1996: Panelist, Youngbloods (show) National Empowerment Television * 1999–2011:

** 1999–2011: Washington Bureau correspondent ** 1999–2011: '' Weekend Today'' rotating news anchor ** 1999–2011: '' MSNBC Live'' fill-in anchor ** 2000–2011: '' Dateline NBC'' contributing correspondent ** 2003–2011: NBC News White House correspondent ** 2005–2011: MSNBC Chief White House correspondent * 2011–present:

** 2011–2012: Chief White House correspondent ** 2011– May 2019: ''

'' fill-in anchor ** September 2012– May 2019: '' CBS This Morning'' co-anchor ** 2011–2025: ''

'' fill-in host and correspondent **2013–present: ''

'' correspondent; part time contributor since 2015 **2019–2025: ''

'' anchor and managing editor **2019–2024: '' CBS Overnight News'' anchor **2025–present: Senior correspondent

Personal life

Family

O'Donnell lives in Washington, D.C., and New York City's Upper West Side neighborhood with her husband, restaurateur Geoff Tracy (owner of D.C. restaurant Chef Geoff's), whom she married in June 2001. They met while attending Georgetown together. On May 20, 2007, O'Donnell and Tracy became the parents of twins, whom they named Grace and Henry. Their third child, daughter Riley Norah Tracy, was born on July 5, 2008. O'Donnell said that her daughter's first name had been suggested by Tim Russert, who died three weeks prior to Riley's birth. O'Donnell and Tracy made a cookbook for parents titled ''Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler'', released on August 31, 2010.

Health

In fall 2016, O'Donnell was diagnosed with

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

', meaning the cancer was contained to the epidermis and had not yet spread to the dermis and metastasized. She underwent surgery soon after where a "three-inch-long piece of skin from the upper left corner of erback" was excised. She later stated that she gets regular skin check-ups "every three to four months" and "multiple skin biopsies" due to her high risk. In the years since her diagnosis O'Donnell has become a skin care advocate, encouraging others, especially women, to get regular dermatological check-ups and take better care of their skin by practicing good skin care routines such as using sunscreen. She discussed her diagnosis with her dermatologist live on ''CBS This Morning'' in 2017.

Awards and recognition

'' Washingtonian Magazine'' has named O'Donnell as one of Washington's 100 most powerful women. O'Donnell has also been named to ''Irish American Magazine's'' 2000 "Top 100 Irish Americans" list. O'Donnell won the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Breaking News Coverage for the '' Dateline NBC'' story "DC In Crisis," which aired on the night of September 11, 2001. She won an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

as part of

's Election Night coverage team in 2008 for the category Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Story – Long Form. She was also awarded an Emmy in 2018 for her six-month investigation and report on "Sexual Assault in the Air Force Academy" for '' CBS This Morning'' in the category Outstanding Investigative Report in a Newscast. That same year, this story was given an honorable mention from the White House Correspondents' Association for the Edgar Allan Poe Award.

References

External links

Official CBS News bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Norah American television reporters and correspondents American television news anchors 1974 births Living people CBS News people NBC News people American women television journalists Douglas MacArthur High School (San Antonio) alumni Georgetown University alumni American people of Irish descent Journalists from San Antonio Journalists from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 20th-century American women