David Muir

David Muir keeps in touch with his alma matter Ithaca College by mentoring young students, and was the school's commencement speaker in May 2011. He also delivered the commencement addresses at Northeastern University in Massachusetts and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison.

David Jason Muir was born on November 8, 1973 in Syracuse, New York, and grew up in a Roman Catholic family in Onondaga Hill. He is the second child of Pat Mills and Ronald Muir, who later got divorced. He has two younger step-siblings as well.

He dreamed of a career in television journalism as a child, and while attending Onondaga Central Junior-Senior High School, used to read the school announcements each morning like a newscast. By this time, he had a part-time job of bagging groceries at Wegmans Fairmount and was an intern at Channel 5.

After completing school in May 1991, he enrolled into Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, from where he graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. degree in Journalism in May 1995. While still in college, he attended the Institute on Political Journalism at Georgetown University and spent a semester studying abroad at the University of Salamanca in Spain.

Joining WTVH-TV in Syracuse in 1995 as an anchor and a reporter, David Muir traveled to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Gaza Strip to cover the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He was soon honored by the Radio-Television News Directors Association and the Associated Press, and was named one of the 'Best Local News Anchors' in Syracuse.

In 2000, he joined WCVB television in Boston, and during his three-year stay there, he ran a story tracing the path of the hijackers behind the 9/11 attacks. His work was again recognized by the Associated Press, and he also received the regional 'Edward R. Murrow Award' and the 'National Headliner Award' for the investigations.

He began his long-lasting association with ABC News in August 2003 as anchor of the overnight news program 'World News Now'. He subsequently became anchor of ABC News’ early morning newscast 'World News This Morning', now known as 'America This Morning'.

Muir, who was trapped inside the New Orleans Superdome when the category 5 Hurricane Katrina hit in September 2005, reported on the deteriorating conditions inside the Convention Center and Charity Hospital braving chest-deep waters.

Since 2006, he began to occasionally co-anchor the newsmagazine show, 'Primetime'. He also began anchoring the show 'World News Saturday' starting in June of the following year.

David Muir's 'World News Tonight with David Muir' has become the most watched evening newscast in America, overtaking 'NBC Nightly News' for the first time since September 7, 2009. Prior to taking over the show in 2014, he was already one of the most visible journalists in America, receiving the most airtime in 2012 and 2013.