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Spotlight on Simmons

Simmons Alumna Gwen Ifill Moderated Vice Presidential Debate

Simmons College graduate Gwen Ifill, one of the nation's most respected journalists, was chosen to moderate the 2008 Vice Presidential debate, by the national Commission on Presidential Debates. Ifill graduated from Simmons in 1977 with a major in communications.

The Oct. 2 debate was between Sen. Joe Biden (D) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. The 90-minute debate covered both foreign and domestic topics.

It is the second time that Ifill, the highly respected senior correspondent for PBS's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" and moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week," has been chosen by the non-partisan debate commission to moderate a vice presidential face-off.  In 2004 she was chosen to guide the questioning of vice presidential candidates John Edwards and Richard Cheney.

Ifill joined PBS in 1999, interviewing newsmakers and reporting on a range of issues.  She spent five years prior to that at NBC News as chief congressional and political correspondent.  She joined NBC News from the New York Times, where she covered the White House and politics.  She also covered national and local affairs for the Washington Post, Baltimore Evening Sun, and Boston Herald American.

About her alma mater, Simmons College, Ifill was quoted in a guidebook for parents: "Simmons gave me the opportunity to be a leader, to take charge and express myself.  I think it made me stronger and more certain of my ability to do whatever I put my mind to.  The whole atmosphere encouraged me to try different things, to expand my outlook."

Ifill has received numerous honorary doctorates and is the recipient of several broadcasting excellence awards, including honors from the National Press Foundation, Ebony magazine, the Radio Television News Directors Association, and American Women in Radio and Television.

Simmons College is a nationally recognized private university located in the heart of Boston.  It offers an undergraduate education for women, and graduate programs for women and men in health sciences, education, liberal arts, social work, library and information science, and communications management, as well as the nation's first and oldest MBA program designed specifically for women.