Journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault

For nearly 20 years, the Peabody Award-winning journalist was national correspondent for PBS's "The NewsHour." She left the show in 1997, but today is still active as a journalist - in a different place and in a different medium.

Charlayne Hunter was the first African-American woman to attend the University of Georgia. Her determination to transcend the riots and racism that her presence inflamed set the tone for her successful career in journalism.

After graduating in 1962, she wrote for several prominent newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Saturday Review, and Vogue. She joined PBS's evening news show in 1978.

She earned a number of awards, including two Emmys. Her Peabody Award honored her coverage of South Africa.

In 1997, Hunter-Gault became chief correspondent in Africa for National Public Radio. There, she has reported on such subjects as South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and recent presidential elections in Nigeria. She and her husband, investment banker Ron Gault, live in Johannesburg, South Africa.