January 30: Meredith Vieira to present to Ann Curry

Meredith Vieira has had an illustrious career in broadcasting from her first job as a news announcer for WORC-Radio in 1975, through her decades at ABC, CBS and NBC News, to her recently announced role as special correspondent for "Rock Center with Brian Williams", and a multitude of successful roles in between. She has received nine Emmys for her excellence and has interviewed some of the most famous and influential people in the world. 

Meredith is thrilled to present to Ann because besides her being a wonderfully fearless journalist, Ann is a great woman with a huge heart and hearty laugh. 

Meredith and Ann first met at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Meredith says, "She may not remember that, but I do. I was sitting there with my son, Gabe, who was probably three at the time. He was having a bit of a meltdown because he was tired. Suddenly Ann sat down next to us...took off this gorgeous winter coat...and wrapped it around him. He snuggled inside it's warmth and was soon fast asleep. I'll never forget how sweet she was that day...and I'm very grateful Gabe didn't drool all over that coat!" 

Meredith has given audiences an in depth view of the political elite like President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and First Lady Laura Bush, as well as prominent figures of the entertainment world like Janet Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler and Madonna to name a just a few.

She has shown us first hand views of tragedies like the shooting at Virginia Tech, the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Japan and on the other end of the spectrum she has given us a close up of modern day royalty by reporting at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

In addition to her continuing broadcast work, this year Meredith will also contribute to special network programming on the 2012 London Olympic Games.

A native of Providence, R.I., Vieira received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University in Medford, Mass. She has three children, Ben, Gabe and Lily with her husband, Richard Cohen.