Gwendolyn L. Ifill (/ˈaɪfÉ™l/ EYE-fÉ™l; September 29, 1955 â€"
November 14, 2016) was an American journalist, television newscaster,
and author. In 1999, she became the first woman of African descent to
host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program with
Washington Week in Review.She was the moderator and managing editor of
Washington Week and co-anchor and co-managing editor, with Judy
Woodruff, of the PBS NewsHour, both of which air on PBS. Ifill was a
political analyst and moderated the 2004 and 2008 vice-presidential
debates. She authored the best-selling book The Breakthrough: Politics
and Race in the Age of Obama.Ifill was born in the Queens neighborhood
of Jamaica in New York City, the fifth of six children of African
Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister (Oliver) Urcille Ifill, Sr., a
Panamanian of Barbadian descent who emigrated from Panama, and Eleanor
Ifill, who was from Barbados. Her father's ministry required the
family to live in several cities in New England and on the Eastern
Seaboard during her youth, where he pastored AME churches. As a child,
she lived in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts church parsonages and in
federally-subsidized housing in Buffalo and New York City. Ifill
graduated from Springfield Central High School Springfield,
Massachusetts (then Classical High School) in 1973. She graduated in
1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications from Simmons College, a
women's college in Boston, Massachusetts.
November 14, 2016) was an American journalist, television newscaster,
and author. In 1999, she became the first woman of African descent to
host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program with
Washington Week in Review.She was the moderator and managing editor of
Washington Week and co-anchor and co-managing editor, with Judy
Woodruff, of the PBS NewsHour, both of which air on PBS. Ifill was a
political analyst and moderated the 2004 and 2008 vice-presidential
debates. She authored the best-selling book The Breakthrough: Politics
and Race in the Age of Obama.Ifill was born in the Queens neighborhood
of Jamaica in New York City, the fifth of six children of African
Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister (Oliver) Urcille Ifill, Sr., a
Panamanian of Barbadian descent who emigrated from Panama, and Eleanor
Ifill, who was from Barbados. Her father's ministry required the
family to live in several cities in New England and on the Eastern
Seaboard during her youth, where he pastored AME churches. As a child,
she lived in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts church parsonages and in
federally-subsidized housing in Buffalo and New York City. Ifill
graduated from Springfield Central High School Springfield,
Massachusetts (then Classical High School) in 1973. She graduated in
1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications from Simmons College, a
women's college in Boston, Massachusetts.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.