Gwen Ifill comes to the position of moderator and managing editor of Washington Week as a familiar figure to viewers of the program. She has been a frequent panelist on the show since 1992, and has served as guest moderator on occasion. Ifill joins Washington Week (and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, where she is a senior correspondent) from NBC News, where she has worked since 1994, most recently as chief congressional and political correspondent. At NBC News she covered the premier political stories affecting the nation, including presidential campaigns, key legislative issues in Congress and the impeachment of President Clinton. Her reports appeared on the Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Today, and on MSNBC, the all-news cable network. She remains an occasional panelist on Meet the Press. A veteran journalist, Ifill joined NBC News after having served as White House correspondent for The New York Times. She has also covered politics and government for The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun and the Boston Herald American. Her introduction to television came when she was a newspaper reporter in Baltimore, and was asked by Maryland Public Television to be a panelist on Maryland Newswrap, its weekly program analyzing local issues. "It was basically a localized version of Washington Week," Ifill said, "so this format is something that is very familiar." After moving to Washington to work at The Washington Post, Ifill became a regular panelist on WETA's Metro Week, which also boasted a roundtable discussion format similar to Washington Week.

A native of New York City and a graduate of Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, Ifill has also received eight honorary degrees. She serves on the board of Harvard University's Institute of Politics and the University of Maryland's Phillip Merrill College of Journalism.

NOTE: Bio is as it appeared in the Forum program from February 16, 2002.