In June 2012, she became the national and international correspondent-anchor for NBC News and the anchor at large for the Today show. She was co-anchor of Today from June 9, 2011, to June 28, 2012, and the program's news anchor from March 1997 until becoming co-anchor. She was also the anchor of Dateline NBC from 2005 to 2011.[4]
On January 13, 2015, it was announced that Curry would be leaving NBC News after nearly 25 years.[5] In January 2015, Curry founded her own multi-platform media startup.[6] She continued to conduct major news interviews on network television, including securing an exclusive interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in 2015 about the Iran nuclear talks.[7] She hosted and produced We'll Meet Again with Ann Curry from 2018 to 2019 on PBS.
Early life and education
Ann Curry was born in Agaña, Guam,[8] the daughter of Hiroe Nagase and Robert Paul "Bob" Curry.[8] Her mother is Japanese, and her father, an American from Pueblo, Colorado, had Irish and German ancestry.[9][8] Her parents met when her father, a career United States Navy sailor,[10] worked as a streetcar conductor during the United States occupation of Japan after World War II.[11][12] Although he was transferred out of Japan, he returned two years later to marry Nagase.[11] Curry is the eldest of five children.[11]
Curry began her broadcasting career in 1978 as an intern at then NBC-affiliate (now CBS-affiliate) KTVL in Medford, Oregon.[15] There she rose to become the station's first female news reporter. In 1980, Curry moved to NBC-affiliate KGW[16] in Portland, where she was a reporter and anchor. Four years later, Curry moved to Los Angeles as a reporter for KCBS-TV and received two Emmy Awards while working as a reporter from 1984 to 1990.
1990–2012
In 1990, Curry joined NBC News, first as the NBC News Chicago correspondent then as the anchor ofNBC News at Sunrisefrom 1991 to 1996. From 1993 to 1995 & again from 1996-1999 Curry was one of the rotating anchors of the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News. Curry also served as a substitute news anchor for Matt Lauer from 1994 to 1997 at Today. From 1997 to 2011, she served as news anchor at Today, becoming the show's second-longest serving news anchor, behind Frank Blair, who served in that capacity from 1953 to 1975. During this time, she also served as a substitute anchor for Today. On June 24, 2005, Curry was named co-anchor of Dateline NBC with Stone Phillips; she remained as the primary anchor when Phillips left on July 2, 2007, until she replaced Meredith Vieira on Today in 2011. She was the primary substitute on NBC Nightly News from 2005 to 2011.
On December 17, 2007, Curry bungee-jumped off the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough, England, to raise money for charity. Her jump was shown live on the Today show.
In June 2012, Curry was widely reported as being replaced as co-host of Today. Curry hired attorney Robert Barnett to represent her in her discussions with NBC.[17][18][19] On June 28, Curry announced in an emotional broadcast on the show that she was leaving Today. She signed a new multiyear contract with the network as NBC News national and international correspondent/anchor and Today anchor-at-large. Her departure had led to some discussions about racism, particularly as she was one of the most prominent Asian-American journalists on the national stage.[20]
For a time, she led a seven-person unit producing content and reporting for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (for which she also was a regular substitute anchor), Dateline NBC, Rock Center with Brian Williams, Today, and MSNBC. Curry also anchored multiple NBC News primetime specials.[21][22] On August 9, 2012, Curry made her first post-departure appearance on Today, when she reported a story during the show's coverage at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The reunion with her former co-anchor, Matt Lauer, was described in the media as "tense", "awkward", and "chilly".[23][24] In September 2013, Lauer said he was disappointed in the way the media reported Curry's departure.[25]
In January 2015, Curry was announced as officially leaving NBC News.[26]
In January 2018, Curry returned to television with her PBS series, We'll Meet Again. Developed by her own production company, the series focused on 12 stories of people searching for individuals who changed their lives.[32][33] She then appeared on The View as guest co-host on January 23, 2018, where she addressed the controversies surrounding her departure from Today.[34] In 2019, Curry hosted TNT/TBS's Chasing the Cure,[35][36] also serving as executive producer.[37]
In 2018, the Washington Post reported that Curry had warned NBC[38] of sexual misconduct by Matt Lauer in 2012, after a staffer told her she'd been sexually harassed, but was worried about being fired if she reported it. Lauer was fired from NBC after new allegations of abusing staff in 2017.[39] When asked whether she felt informing NBC executives resulted in her 2012 firing from Today, Curry stated "I think that many people have guessed why (I was replaced), but I’ve held myself back. I’ve asked people why, and I haven’t gotten a good answer." Concerning her reaction to the firing, she stated "it honestly hurts really deeply, because I really think I did nothing wrong. But in spite of the pain of it, which still lingers, I know that I contributed to some people suffering less."[38]
She was awarded the Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.[40] In 2024, she received the Damon Runyon Award from the Denver Press Club.[41]
Curry was raised Catholic by her mother, who was a convert to the religion.[11] Curry is married to Brian Ross, a software executive, whom she met in college. They have a daughter, McKenzie, and a son, William Walker Curry Ross.[44] The family has lived in New Canaan, Connecticut as of 2013.[45]
Emmy Awards, presented for coverage of the 1987 Los Angeles earthquake and for reporting on the explosion of a San Bernardino gas pipeline[48] and a third in 2007 for her reporting on NBC Nightly News about the Darfur crisis.[49]
Golden Mike[50] (four times),[51] presented by Radio and Television News Association of Southern California
Honorary Doctorate in Journalism from Southern Oregon University on May 6, 2010, after giving the commencement address[60]
Curry received an honorary degree from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island on May 16, 2010.[61]
Curry received an honorary doctorate from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, on May 22, 2010,[62] where she also delivered the keynote address to the graduating class. The address briefly gained national news attention as she cited several famous alumni in her speech, only one of whom had graduated from the college. All the other "alumni" had graduated from the Wheaton College in Illinois. Curry later apologized for the gaffe.[63]
Ann Curry Scholarship for University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication Broadcasting Students, 2002[10]
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