Early life

Kotb was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia and Alexandria, Virginia. Kotb's parents are from Egypt. Kotb and her family lived in Egypt for a year, as well as in Nigeria.

She graduated from Fort Hunt High School in 1982. She was elected Homecoming Queen and selected to speak at her graduating class' Baccalaureate service. In her college years at Virginia Tech, Kotb was a member of Delta Delta Delta Women's Sorority, Beta Nu Chapter. In 1986, Kotb graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism. Kotb was the keynote speaker at her alma mater for the 2008 Virginia Tech graduation, and in her speech, played Metallica's "Enter Sandman" over her iPod. In 2010, Kotb was elected to a three-year term to the Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Career

Kotb appears on the fourth hour of the Today Show, co-hosting with Kathie Lee Gifford. She has also been a correspondent for Dateline NBC since 1998. Kotb occasionally fills in as the co-anchor of Today for Savannah Guthrie.

Kotb wrote a New York Times Bestselling book, Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee, which was released in hardcover in October 2010.

In 2010, Hoda Kotb won Daytime Emmy Award as part of the Today Show.

On January 15, 2013, she released her second book Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives, in which she chronicles six stories by identifying a life-changing event in each subject's life and then revisiting each of those six people a decade later.

She has also appeared in Martina McBride's music video for I'm Gonna Love You Through It.

In 2016, she released her third book Where They Belong: The Best Decisions People Almost Never Made, which features a selection of various stories of inspiring people who "found themselves" in completely unexpected moments or unforeseen circumstances.

Personal life

In 2005, Kotb married former University of New Orleans tennis coach Burzis Kanga. The marriage ended in divorce two years later.

In March 2007, Kotb underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer, and has since become an advocate for breast cancer awareness. Kotb allowed Today Show cameras to follow her throughout her cancer battle. After she was announced cancer-free, her story was documented on the show.

In January 2015, Kotb said she has been in a relationship with New York financier Joel Schiffman for two years.

On March 11, 2016, Tulane University announced that Kotb would be the commencement speaker for the class of 2016.

Appearances

• 1986: CBS News - news assistant Cairo, Egypt
• 1986-1989: Morning anchor and general assignment reporter WQAD-TV, ABC Moline, Illinois; and anchor WXVT-TV, CBS Greenville and Greenwood, Mississippi
• 1989-1991: Weekend anchor and reporter WINK-TV Fort Myers, Florida
• 1992-1998: Anchor and reporter WWL-TV, CBS New Orleans, Louisiana
• 1998-present NBC News
  • 1998-present: NBC News National correspondent
  • 1998-present: Dateline NBC contributing anchor and correspondent
  • 2004-2008: Host of the weekly syndicated series Your Total Health
  • 2007-present: Today 4th hour co-host with Kathie Lee Gifford
  • 2007-present: Today substitute co-anchor

Charities

Hoda Kotb supports the following charitable causes: Breast Cancer, Cancer, ALS (amyrotrophic lateral sclerosis).

[ Source: Wikipedia ]