Adaora Udoji

Adaora Elizabeth Udoji (born 1967) is a Nigerian American and was the co-host of The Takeaway with John Hockenberry until May 2009. Previously, she was a host on Court TV. She is a former correspondent for CNN and a former foreign correspondent for ABC News based in London. Currently, she is based in New York.

Early life

Born to father Godfrey Udoji, former chief engineer for the city of Dearborn, Michigan, and mother Mary, former director of Washtenaw County Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Udoji holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctor degree from UCLA. She also holds dual American and Irish citizenship.

Reporting career

She joined ABC News in 1995, as an off-air reporter working for Cynthia McFadden covering the OJ Simpson criminal trial and other legal stories. In 1996 she became an associate producer for ABC News covering the presidential election, the TWA 800 crash, as well as working on documentary about death row. The network named her a foreign correspondent in 2000 where she was based in London reporting international stories covering Africa, the Middle East and Europe. She also contributed to Good Morning America, World News Weekend and ABC Radio. In 2003, Udoji joined CNN, where she served as a New York based correspondent covering stories from the 2004 presidential election, Katrina, the West Virginia Sago mine disaster, among many others for the network's television and radio outlets. And on April 25, 2006, it was announced that she had signed with Court TV News as an anchor.

Assignments

Major international assignments that Udoji has covered include the 2003 Iraq War (from the Persian Gulf and Iraq), the 2001 war in Afghanistan (from Pakistan), the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (from Israel, Palestinian territories and Jordan) and events surrounding Pope John Paul II from Vatican City. She has also covered many sporting events, such as Wimbledon, The British Open and the Tour de France. In the United States, Udoji covered the United States presidential elections from 1996–2008, he 1996 TWA Flight 800 incident and the OJ Simpson criminal and civil trials. She was part of the team that won a CINE Eagle Award for an ABC prime time documentary about Death Row in 1997.

Awards and recognition

She participated as part of a CNN news team covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in and around New Orleans, Louisiana for which the network won a Peabody Award. She was also among the team at ABC News awarded a Cine Eagle statute for an ABC News documentary on death row. Udoji was recognized by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for cocntributions to ABC's coverage of the Afghan War in 2002. In February 2005, Udoji was named as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow. 2009 named One of The 25 Most Influential African Americans by Essence Magazine. 2007 Honoree for the World Diversity Leadership Conference hosted by the United Nations. Awarded by Wall Street magazine, The Network Journal, the Forty Under Forty Achievement Statute. Udoji has delivered presentations as keynote speaker/moderator for national organizations including the ACLU, The White House Project, National Council for the Research on Women, UCLA School of Law, New York Women in Communications among others.

Personal life

In 2002, she married fellow television journalist Ron Allen of NBC News. She left The Takeaway shortly after its launch to spend more time with her newborn baby. Udoji and Allen live with their daughter and two Norwich Terriers in New Jersey.

External links

• "Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows". OhioDominican.edu. Archived from the original on 15 April 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070415233923/http://www.ohiodominican.edu/about/arts/wilsonfellows.asp. Retrieved 19 June 2007. 
• "Court TV News(SM) Announces Anchor Deal With Former CNN Correspondent and International Journalist Adaora Udoji" (Press release). PRNewswire via DMN News. 25 April 2006. http://forums.digitalmedianet.com/cgi-bin/displaywwugpost.fcgi?forum=dmn_news&post=060325194145.htm. Retrieved 19 June 2007. 
• Robledo, S. Jhoanna (17 January 2005). "The $35,000-a-Month Rental". New York. http://nymag.com/nymetro/realestate/columns/realestate/10840/. Retrieved 19 June 2007. 
• "Adaora Udoji and Ron Allen". The New York Times. 6 October 2002. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/06/fashion/weddings/06UDOJ.html. Retrieved 19 June 2007.