Career Highlights

• Gwen Ifill says she “always knew” she wanted to be a journalist
• Wrote the bestselling book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama
• Ifill Has received more than a dozen honorary doctorates
• Moderated the Vice Presidential debates during the Presidential elections in 2004 and 2008
• Serves on the boards of the Harvard University Institute of Politics and the Committee to Protect Journalists

Career Overview

Gwen Ifill graduated from Simmons College in Boston with a Bachelor’s in Communications. From her first journalism internship at the Boston Herald, she went on to be a national political reporter for The Washington Post, the White House correspondent for The New York Times and chief political correspondent for NBC News. For the past 10 years, Ifill has moderated the PBS program "Washington Week in Review" and is also senior correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." During her career, she has covered six Presidential campaigns.

Ifill wrote the bestselling book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, which was released on Inauguration Day, 2009. The book explores African Americans in politics, including Barack Obama, as well as other up-and-coming black politicians. Ifill has been honored for her work by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center, Ebony Magazine and Boston’s Ford Hall Forum.

Our Interview

ThinkTalk host Erika Thomas asks Gwen Ifill about her career as a journalist. Ifill explains why journalists need a love of writing and a love of asking questions, and also why she enjoys reporting in front of the camera.