Kelly O'Donnell Biography

Kelly O'Donnell (born May 17, 1965) is a political reporter for NBC News. O'Donnell graduated from Northwestern University.

Background

She served as a reporter and anchor at WJW TV in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1990s. At this time, O'Donnell worked with former NBC reporter Martin Savidge when WJW was still a CBS station in Cleveland.

She appears on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Today, and MSNBC. O'Donnell is a regular panelist on The Chris Matthews Show and has been a guest on Meet The Press. She has served as news anchor and substitute host on the Weekend Today program and the weekend edition of Nightly News. She has contributed reports to the primetime news magazine Dateline NBC. She served as White House correspondent for NBC News during the second term of George W. Bush; following the 2008 presidential campaign season, she became Capitol Hill correspondent.

O'Donnell has covered the Bush Administration, Congress, and several presidential campaigns, to include most recently John McCain's in 2008. During the Iraq war, she was embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division, stationed in Baghdad and Qatar. In addition, O'Donnell has reported a wide variety of events, including the September 11 attacks, the space shuttle Columbia disaster, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the O.J. Simpson trial. O'Donnell reported on the travels and death of Pope John Paul II. She also covered both summer and winter Olympic games.

Honors

O'Donnell was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Ohio Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2004. She has received many honors, including Emmy awards, a National Headliner award, a New Hampshire Primary Award for Political Reporting, and Los Angeles Press Club awards.

Personal life

O'Donnell's grandparents on both sides came from Ireland.

She has been based in Washington D.C., New York, and Los Angeles for NBC. She is not related to former NBC news correspondent Norah O'Donnell or MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell.