Norah Morahan O’Donnell[1] (born January 23, 1974) is an American television journalist who is anchor of the CBS Evening News and a correspondent for 60 Minutes. She is the former co-anchor of CBS This Morning, Chief White House Correspondent for CBS News, and a substitute host for CBS‘s Sunday morning show Face the Nation.
O’Donnell was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Noreen Bernadette (O’Kane) and Francis Lawrence O’Donnell, a doctor and US Army officer.[2] Her parents are both of Irish descent, with roots in Derry, Belfast, and Donegal (meaning she is descended from both sides of the Irish Border). Three of her grandparents were immigrants, and her maternal grandfather lived in the U.S. illegally for 16 years.[1][2] When Norah was three, her family moved to San Antonio, Texas.[3] When she was 10, the family spent two years in Seoul, living in Yongsan Garrison as her father was assigned to work there. While an elementary student, she started her career in broadcasting by giving videotaped English lessons for the Korean Educational Development Institute.[4] The family moved back to San Antonio, where she attended Douglas MacArthur High School, from which she graduated in 1991.[5] She then went on to attend Georgetown University, where she graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and a Master of Arts degree in liberal studies in 2003.[6][7][8]