Couric, Katie

Education and Career Highlights

Couric was born on January 7, 1957, in Arlington, Virginia, to homemaker Elinor and public marketing executive and news editor John Couric Jr. While her mother was Jewish, she was raised Presbyterian. She is a product of Virginia public schools and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's in English from the University of Virginia. Afterward, Couric pursued a career in journalism with an entry-level position as a desk assistant at ABC. Soon after, however, Couric joined CNN and served for four years in a variety of positions, including producer, editor, and correspondent. Following her successful stint with America's first cable news network, she left to take a position as a reporter at WTVJ-TV in Miami from 1984 to 1986.

In 1987, Couric moved to Washington, D.C., to assume a similar position with WRC-TV. She impressed viewers and those in the industry with her professionalism, personality, and work ethic. Landing a job as defense correspondent for NBC [Page 355]News in 1989, she also periodically filled in as cohost with Bryant Gumbel on the popular morning program, The Today Show. Following Deborah Norville's departure, Couric was elevated to the permanent slot of cohost in 1991. She spent the next 15 years becoming one of the most respected and well-known news personalities in television.

Since 2000, Katie Couric has solidified her position as one of the most popular, successful, and distinguished journalists in America. On September 5, 2006, Couric took the reins of the venerable network news program, the CBS Evening News. She has interviewed every American president from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama. Over the past several years, she has also sat with major Middle East leaders Ariel Sharon, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, and Benjamin Netanyahu. Couric, however, has not only made news with prominent and serious politicians and world leaders. She interviewed the late John F. Kennedy Jr., Bill Gates, and the Central Park Jogger. Beyond being an interviewer, Couric has covered the major stories of our time, such as the 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Virginia Tech shootings, the Gulf War, the Columbine shootings, and the Timothy McVeigh trial and execution. Critics aside, Couric has proved that intelligence and beauty are not incompatible qualities. Moreover, she has been active in cancer research; often lending her name and prestige to worthy efforts to eradicate the deadly disease.

Katie Couric was married to the late Jay Monahan from 1989 until his death in 1998 of colon cancer. She has two daughters from this union: Elinor and Carolina.

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