Bob Woodruff joined ABC News in 1996 and has covered major stories
throughout the country and around the world for the network. He
succeeded Peter Jennings as anchor of “ABC World News Tonight” in
December 2005. On Jan. 29, 2006, while reporting on U.S. and Iraqi
security forces, Woodruff was seriously injured by a roadside bomb
that struck his vehicle near Taji, Iraq.

In February 2007, just 13 months after being wounded, Woodruff
returned to ABC News with his first on-air report, “To Iraq and
Back: Bob Woodruff Reports.” The hour-long, primetime documentary
chronicled his traumatic brain injury (TBI), his painstaking recovery
and the plight of thousands of service members returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan with similar injuries.

Since returning to the air, Woodruff has reported from around the
globe. He has traveled to North Korea eight times, investigating the
growing nuclear threats in the hands of Kim Jong Il and then his son
Kim Jong Un. Since 2015, Woodruff has been ABC’s primary
correspondent throughout Asia, especially China, reporting on topics
ranging from the controversial treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang
province to the United States’ presence in the South China Sea. In
2008, ABC News aired his critically acclaimed documentary “China
Inside Out,” which examined how China’s global rise impacts
what’s being called the “Chinese Century.” On the streets of
Manila, he has seen the rising violence and murders following
President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug policies. He traveled to Japan in
the wake of the devastating natural disasters to report on the
stabilization of nuclear reactors in the country.

During an August 2008 exclusive interview on “Nightline,” former
senator and presidential candidate John Edwards admitted that he had
repeatedly lied about an extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter, a
campaign employee. In 2011, Woodruff covered the trial of John
Edwards, who was accused and ultimately found not guilty of conspiring
to violate campaign finance laws.

Previously, Woodruff was anchor of the weekend edition of “World
News Tonight” and one of ABC News’ top correspondents. Before
moving to New York in 2002, Woodruff worked out of ABC News’ London
bureau, covering conflicts throughout Europe and Africa; as well as
adventures with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry,
traveling extensively with the young members of the royal family.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, he was among the first Western reporters
into Pakistan and was one of ABC’s lead foreign correspondents
during the war in Afghanistan, reporting from Kabul and Kandahar on
the fall of the Taliban. His overseas reporting of the fallout from
9/11 was part of ABC News’ coverage recognized with the Alfred I.
duPont Award and the George Foster Peabody Award, the two highest
honors in broadcast journalism. He was also a part of the ABC News
team recognized with a duPont Award for live coverage of the death of
Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. For his
extensive coverage of traumatic brain injuries, he was honored with
another George Foster Peabody Award. He has garnered six Emmy®
Awards, his most recent resulting from his reports about the brutal
treatment of the Rohingya ethnic group by the government of Myanmar.

Before becoming a journalist, Woodruff was an attorney. While teaching
law in Beijing in 1989, he was hired by CBS News to work as a
translator during the Tiananmen Square uprising. A short time later,
he changed careers. As ABC’s Justice Department correspondent in
Washington in the late 1990s, he covered the office of Attorney
General Janet Reno, the FBI and ATF.

In February 2007, Woodruff and his wife, Lee, co-wrote a bestselling
memoir, “In an Instant,” chronicling his injuries in Iraq and how
their family persevered through a time of intense trauma and
uncertainty. The Woodruff family established the Bob Woodruff
Foundation (BWF) to raise money to assist injured service members,
veterans and their families.

Woodruff has a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School
and a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University. He and Lee have four
children.
