Brian Williams

Anchor & Managing Editor, NBC Nightly News

The Fourth Annual Heroes Gala Master of Ceremonies

Brian Williams is seen by more Americans on a daily basis than any other individual in the news media. NBC Nightly News is the single largest daily source of news in the United States, and Brian Williams is only the seventh Anchor and Managing Editor in its history. In his first two years on the job, he became the most highly awarded network evening news anchor of the modern era. He has received six Edward R. Murrow Awards, 10 Emmy Awards, the duPont-Columbia University Award and the industry’s highest honor, the George Foster Peabody Award. Most were awarded for his work in New Orleans while covering Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Vanity Fair magazine later called his work "Murrow-worthy", and The New York Times said his reporting of Katrina was "a defining moment as a network reporter and anchor." In 2006, Time magazine named Brian Williams one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Williams is a former NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, and former Anchor and Managing Editor of The News With Brian Williams on MSNBC and CNBC. He has traveled the world extensively, including two years with the President on board Air Force One. He has covered numerous nominating conventions and presidential campaigns and elections, and has moderated several presidential debates. He was the first NBC News correspondent to reach Baghdad during the 2003 war in Iraq, and was part of a U.S. Army helicopter mission that was forced down by enemy fire south of Najaf. He nonetheless has returned to Iraq several times.

He is a native of Middletown, New Jersey, where he spent many years as a volunteer firefighter, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. He attended Catholic University and George Washington University, both in Washington, D.C. He is a former White House intern, and has been awarded seven honorary degrees. Williams is a frequent guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and has often appeared with David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. He has written for The New York Times, Time, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. After hosting Saturday Night Live in November, Entertainment Weekly said his name belongs alongside SNL’s all-time greats. He is married to Jane Stoddard Williams, and the couple has a daughter in college and a son in high school. Brian Williams was named "Father of the Year" in 1996 by the National Father's Day Committee.