Gwen Ifill, Journalist | MAKERS

Gwen Ifill was born in 1955 in New York to a minister. Ifill discovered her love for writing at a very early age. Quickly discovering that she was an ""inveterate questioner,"" Ifill chose to study communications at Simmons College during which she began an internship at the Boston Herald American where she was the only black woman. She began her post-graduate career as a reporter at the Boston Herald American despite having faced some racism during her previous internship. Ifill worked her way to the Baltimore Evening Sun followed by The Washington Post.

In politics, Ifill covered Bill Clinton for The New York Times during his 1992 presidential campaign and later joined PBS in 1999. By 2004, Ifill became the first African American woman to moderate a vice presidential debate and just three years later, she did it again. Ifill later served the moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and co-anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour. As an advocate for gender and racial equality, Ifill has proven to be an honored journalist. She made history in February 2016 with Judy Woodruff as the first female anchor team.

Gwen Ifill passed away at the age of 61 on November 14, 2016.