Diane Sawyer's Biography

Ms. Sawyer also reported from Southeast Asia in the wake of the deadly 2005 tsunami; from Moscow, where she made her way into the office of Boris Yeltsin at the pinnacle of the Soviet coup; from Egypt during the Gulf War, where she interviewed President Hosni Mubarak; and Amman, Jordan, where she interviewed King Hussein and Queen Noor. During the Iraq War, she conducted an exclusive interview with one of the main architects of Saddam Hussein's biological weapons program, Dr. Rihab Taha, nicknamed "Dr. Germ."

Domestically, Ms. Sawyer reported from New Orleans on the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005. She also conducted a live, exclusive interview with President George W. Bush in the midst of widespread criticism of his Administration's handling of the storm.

On September 11, 2001, Ms. Sawyer, along with Charles Gibson, began the network's award-winning coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the days that followed, Ms. Sawyer reported live from Ground Zero and later interviewed more than 60 widows who gave birth after the World Trade Center disaster.

Ms. Sawyer's reporting has been recognized with numerous awards including duPonts, Emmys, Peabodys, the grand prize of the premier Investigative Reporters and Editors Association, an IRTS Lifetime Achievement Award, and the USC Distinguished Achievement in Journalism Award. In 1997, she was inducted into the Television Academy of Hall of Fame.

Ms. Sawyer joined ABC News in February 1989 as co-anchor of "Primetime." In addition to that role, she was named co-anchor of "Good Morning America" in January 1999 and held the post until taking over the "World News" anchor chair in December 2009. In August 2009, "GMA" was recognized with its third consecutive Emmy Award for Outstanding Morning program.

Prior to joining ABC News, Ms. Sawyer spent nine years at CBS News. There she made history as the first female correspondent of "60 Minutes." She also co-anchored the "CBS Morning News" and was CBS News' State Department correspondent. While at CBS, Ms. Sawyer covered the 1980, '84 and '88 national conventions as a floor and then podium correspondent.

Ms. Sawyer was part of the Nixon-Ford transition team from 1974 to 1975 and assisted former President Nixon in the writing of his memoirs in 1974 and 1975. She began her career in broadcasting in 1967 in Louisville, Kentucky, where she was a reporter for WLKY-TV until 1970.

A native of Glasgow, Kentucky, and raised in Louisville, Ms. Sawyer received a B.A. from Wellesley College and completed a semester of law school before embarking on a career in broadcasting.