Today ABC News president Ben Sherwood announced Alex Perez will be joining the network as a correspondent in the Chicago bureau.   See Mr. Sherwood's email to staff below.

Please welcome Alex Perez to ABC News. 

Alex is spending the next few weeks in New York before joining the Chicago bureau as a correspondent.

Alex knows the Chicago area well - for the last six years he was a reporter and fill-in anchor for the NBC station there.  He's covered a wide-range of breaking news stories from President Obama's first campaign for the White House to the trial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich to the historic blizzard of 2011.

Last year, Alex won a prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship and traveled across Europe, meeting with government leaders, learning more about the political landscape and analyzing the EU's financial crisis.  Alex recently returned from Cuba where he retraced his family roots with his mother who hadn't been back in 46 years.

Alex was the first person in his immediate family to graduate from college and he's passionate about helping young people understand the importance of higher education.  Named one of the top ten Latino journalists to watch, Alex is a skilled and energetic reporter who understands the power of words and images.

Please join me in welcoming Alex to the ABC News family.