Gwen Ifill: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Journalist Gwen Ifill accepts a Lifetime Achievement award onstage at The Women’s Media Center 2015 Women’s Media Awards on November 5, 2015 in New York City. (Getty)

PBS anchor Gwen Ifill is co-moderating Thursday night’s Democratic debate in Wisconsin alongside her colleague Judy Woodruff.

The debate between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is set for 9 p.m. Eastern on PBS.

Here’s what you need to know about Ifill:

1. She Is the Moderator of Washington Week & Co-Anchor of PBS Newshour With Woodruff

Judy Woodruff, left, and Gwen Ifill. (Getty)

Gwen Ifill, 60, has worked at PBS since 1999, according to her biography on its website.

She is currently the moderator of the weekly political show Washington Week and the co-anchor of PBS News Hour with fellow debate moderator Judy Woodruff.

She has moderated two major debates in the past, the Vice Presidential debates in both 2004 and 2008.

In addition to her work at PBS, she authored The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, which was published in 2009.

She received the National Press Club’s highest honor, the Fourth Estate Award in 2015, and has also received honors from the Radio and Television News Directors Association of America, Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center, the National Association of Black Journalis and Ebony Magazine, according to PBS.

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2. She Was Born in New York City to Immigrant Parents

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Ifill was born in New York City and lived in several areas along the East coast of the United States while growing up.

Her parents are both immigrants. Her father, Urcille Ifill, is a Barbadian who immigrated from Panama, and her mother, Eleanor, immigrated from Barbados. She was the fifth of six children.

Her father was an AME minister.

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3. She Graduated From Simmons College & Previously Worked for the Washington Post, the New York Times & NBC

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Ifill is a graduate of Simmons College, according to the PBS website.

She has previously worked for the Boston Herald American, the Baltimore Evening Sun, the Washington Post, the New York Times and NBC.

“I always knew I wanted to be a journalist, and my first love was newspapers,” Ifill said in her PBS bio. “But public broadcasting provides the best of both worlds-combining the depth of newspapering with the immediate impact of broadcast television.”

4. She Created Controversy With a Tweet About Israel’s Prime Minister

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Ifill drew the ire of many on Twitter last year with a tweet directed at Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

She posted a link to a graphic designed by the Obama administration to promote the Iran nuclear deal and wrote, “Take that, Bibi,” referencing Netanyahu’s nickname. Netanyahu had been campaigning against the deal.

PBS ombudsman Michael Getler called the tweet “inexcusable” and said it was a “real self-inflicted wound” after the outcry, mainly from the right.

“Ifill is a highly experienced journalist, very quick, alert, knowledgeable, and with an engaging on-air personality,” Getler wrote. “She also has a talented eye for the ironies and political turnabouts in the daily flow of news that contributes to her presence. But PBS and the NewsHour are bigger than any individual and tweeting does not appear to be a tool, in these cases, that is appropriate for maintaining credibility, which is the bedrock for news organizations.”

Ifill stood by her tweet in an email to the Washington Free Beacon.

“No it was not a shot at Prime Minister Netanyahu, even though it has become apparent that, in certain circles, it was taken as one,” she wrote. “I was calling attention to what seemed to me to be criticism directed toward him coming from State.”

5. She Is Not Married & Doesn’t Have Any Children

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Ifill is not married and does not have any children.

“I don’t know why I’m not married. I just know I will be, so I don’t sweat it,” she told Time.