Ray Suarez

This article is about the news correspondent. For Chicago alderman, see Ray Suarez (politician).

Ray Suarez
Suarez in 2007
Born	Rafael Suarez, Jr. March 5, 1957 (1957-03-05) Brooklyn, New York, USA
Education	BA, New York University MA, University of Chicago
Occupation	Journalist, Anchor
Spouse(s)	Carole Suarez
Children	Rafael, Eva and Isabel
Ethnicity	Puerto Rican
Religious belief(s)	Episcopalian
Notable credit(s)	PBS NewsHour, Talk of the Nation, American RadioWorks

Rafael Suarez, Jr. (born March 5, 1957), known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist. Suarez joined the PBS NewsHour in 1999 and became a senior correspondent for the evening news program on the PBS television network. He is also host of the international news and analysis public radio program America Abroad from Public Radio International. He was the host of the National Public Radio program Talk of the Nation from 1993-1999. In his more than 30 year career in the news business he has also worked as a radio reporter in London and Rome, as a Los Angeles correspondent for CNN, and as a reporter for the NBC-owned station WMAQ TV in Chicago.

Personal life

Born and raised in Brooklyn,, Suarez attended public schools in the borough from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating in 1974 from John Dewey High School. In 1975 he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Brooklyn Council. In 2009, Suarez was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award by the NCAC. He earned a BA in African History from New York University and an MA in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three children, Rafael, Eva, and Isabel. Suarez is active locally and nationally in the Episcopal Church.

Career and publications

He is the author of the 1999 book The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration: 1966-1999, a social commentary on the causes of the destitution found in the inner city. He also authored the 2006 book, The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America, which examines the way Americans worship, how organized religion and politics intersect in America, and how this powerful collision is transforming the current and future American mind-set. The book is beginning to gather accolades for its timeliness and fair coverage from many sides of the issue. Suarez was a contributing editor for Si Magazine, a short-lived magazine depicting the Latino experience in the U.S.

Suarez currently hosts the program Destination Casa Blanca, produced by HITN TV. The program covers Latino politics and policy for a national audience from Washington, D.C.

Suarez has contributed to many other books, including ''How I Learned English, "Brooklyn: A State of Mind", "Saving America's Treasures", and "About Men." His columns, op-eds, and criticism have been published in The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune.

He co-wrote and hosted the 2009 documentary for PBS, Jerusalem: Center of the World, and narrated Anatomy of a Pandemic, on the H1N1 outbreak, for PBS.

Honors

Suarez receiving his Distinguished Eagle Scout Award

• Named as a 1996 Utne Reader "Visionaries"^{[citation needed]}
• Named as Hispanic Business "100 Influentials" among American Latinos
• 1995 Global Awareness Award by Current History Magazine
• 1993-94 duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Awards (part of NPR's award for on-site coverage of the first all-race elections in South Africa)^{[citation needed]}
• 1994-95 duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Awards (part of NPR's award for coverage of the first 100 days of the 104th Congress)^{[citation needed]}
• 1996 Rubén Salazar Award from the National Council of La Raza^{[citation needed]}
• 2005 Distinguished Policy Leadership Award from UCLA's School of Public Policy
• Distinguished Alumnus Award from NYU^{[citation needed]}
• Professional Achievement Award from the University of Chicago^{[citation needed]}
• 2009 - Distinguished Eagle Scout
• Honorary doctorates
  • Muhlenberg College^{[citation needed]}
  • Westminster College^{[citation needed]}
  • Xavier University^{[citation needed]}
  • Marymount Manhattan College^{[citation needed]}
  • St. John's University^{[citation needed]}
  • Bloomfield College^{[citation needed]}
  • California State University-Monterey Bay^{[citation needed]}
  • Lewis & Clark College^{[citation needed]}
  • Dominican College (New York)^{[citation needed]}
• Fellowships
  • Benton Fellowship in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Chicago^{[citation needed]}

See also

• National Association of Hispanic Journalists

External links

• The Online NewsHour: Ray Suarez
• America Abroad: Ray Suarez
• Ray Suarez Interview on KCTS 9 Public Television