Brian Williams
Williams at the 2011 Time 100 gala
Born	Brian Douglas Williams May 5, 1959 (1959-05-05) (age 52) Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Brookdale Community College George Washington University The Catholic University of America
Occupation	News Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News
Spouse(s)	Jane Stoddard Williams
Years active	1981–present
Notable credit(s)	NBC News reporter (1993–2004) NBC Nightly News anchor (2004–present)
Official website

Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is the American anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004. Williams was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007, and in 2010, a prominent media observer dubbed him "the Walter Cronkite of the 21st century." He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Stoddard Williams, two children, Allison and Douglas Williams, and two dogs.

Early life

Williams was raised in a middle class Irish Catholic home. In his childhood his family moved from his birth place, Ridgewood, New Jersey, to Elmira, New York. He lived in Elmira for ten years, before moving to Middletown, New Jersey when he was in junior high school.

He graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown. While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township (New Jersey) Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.

After high school, he attended Brookdale Community College, before transferring to George Washington University, and then to The Catholic University of America. He did not graduate, instead taking an internship with the administration of President Jimmy Carter. He now calls leaving college one of his "great regrets." Brian Williams completed a total of 18 college credits."

Early career

After working in the lobbying arm of the National Association of Broadcasters, Williams began his broadcasting career at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kansas in 1981. A year later he moved back to Washington, D.C. and worked at WTTG-TV as general assignment reporter. Williams joined NBC News from WCBS in New York in 1993 and became the network's chief White House correspondent in 1994. In 1996, Williams began anchoring The News with Brian Williams on MSNBC and rebroadcast on CNBC.

Nightly News

Williams became anchor of NBC Nightly News on December 2, 2004, and his first year in that post was marked by coverage of two disasters: the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. NBC personnel felt that the program became his program (rather than predecessor Tom Brokaw's) with his coverage of the tsunami, and his reporting on Katrina, including from inside the New Orleans Superdome, was singled out for praise by industry observers. His work helped earn NBC a Peabody Award, the Peabody committee concluding that Williams and the Nightly News staff "exemplified the highest levels of journalistic excellence in reporting on Hurricane Katrina."

Nightly News was the ratings leader among the network evening news programs when Williams became anchor, and it maintained that position until falling slightly behind ABC's World News in the first half of 2007. Nightly News regained the lead later in the year and expanded it beginning in the fall of 2008. By 2010, Williams was viewed as the country's leading news anchor and drawing comparisons to Walter Cronkite.

When Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as anchor of NBC Nightly News, his annual salary was reported to be $8 million, and by October 2006, it had reportedly increased to $10 million. He occasionally fills in for Lester Holt on weekends when needed.

On Sunday, May 1, 2011, Williams anchored a simulcast between all NBC affiliates and MSNBC covering the death of Osama Bin Laden, going on air before 11:30PM and continuing coverage until at least 2:00AM.

Appearances

Williams frequently appears on The Daily Show as a celebrity guest interviewed by Jon Stewart. He appeared on the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live before hosting the program on November 3, 2007.

Brian regularly appears on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where he slow jams the news of the previous week as Fallon sings and reiterates what Brian says. He has also made numerous appearances on Late Show with David Letterman despite it being on CBS, a competing network. During an appearance on July 26, 2011, Williams demonstrated a skilled vocal impersonation of TV personality Regis Philbin. Williams has also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien where he took part in numerous skits and interviews.

Brian also frequently makes guest appearances on NBC's television comedy 30 Rock as a caricatured version of himself. In the episode The One he's seen at home receiving proposition calls meant for Tracy Jordan. In a later episode, he auditions to be a new TGS cast member. He also is seen once on the show taunting an MSNBC news host.

NASCAR

Williams is an avid fan of NASCAR. He was first exposed to auto racing as a child attending races on dirt tracks all over upstate New York. In 1999, Williams was the studio host of the first NASCAR race ever shown on NBC, the Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Two years later, at NASCAR's awards banquet in New York City, he introduced a videotaped tribute to Dale Earnhardt, who had died at the Daytona 500 some months earlier. Earnhardt and Williams had become close friends.

Career timeline

• 1981: KOAM-TV
• 1982–1984: WTTG-TV correspondent
• 1985: Panorama Host
• 1985–1987: WCAU-TV New Jersey correspondent
• 1987–1993: WCBS-TV Anchor of weekday noon and weekend night newscasts; reporter
• 1993–1994: NBC News correspondent
• 1994–1996: NBC News White House correspondent
• 1996–2004: The News with Brian Williams anchor
• 2004–present: NBC Nightly News anchor