 |
|
| Native name | Hudā Quṭb |
|---|---|
| Born | August 9, 1964 Norman, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Virginia Tech |
| Occupation | Journalist; TV host |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Employer | NBC News |
| Known for | Today Show host and correspondent (2008–present); Dateline NBC correspondent (1998–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Burzis Kanga (m. 2005; div. 2007) |
| Partner(s) | Joel Schiffman |
| Parent(s) | A.K. Kotb (father) Sameha Kotb (mother) |
Hoda Kotb (/ˈhoʊdə ˈkɒtbiː/ HOH-de KOT-bee;[1] Arabic: هدى قطب Hudā Quṭb Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈhodæ ˈʔotˤb]), born August 9, 1964,[2] is an American television news anchor and TV host known as the co-host of NBC's Today Show 's fourth hour with Kathie Lee Gifford. An Egyptian American, she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2010 as part of The Today Show team. Kotb is also a correspondent for Dateline NBC.
Kotb was born in Norman, Oklahoma,[2] but grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia[3] and Alexandria, Virginia,[4] where she graduated from Fort Hunt High School in 1982. She was elected Homecoming Queen[5] and selected to speak at her graduating class' Baccalaureate service.[6]
Kotb's parents are from Egypt. Kotb and her family lived in Egypt for a year, as well as in Nigeria.[7] In Arabic, the name "Hoda" means "guidance" and is a common name among Arab women. The surname "Kotb" (Qutb) means "pole," as in North or South Pole, and is a common surname among Egyptians. For a period during her career, she spelled her surname Kotbe to aid in pronunciation; she has since reverted to using the original form, Kotb. Kotb's father is deceased, and as of 2014, her mother works at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.[8]
In 1986, Kotb graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism.[3] Kotb was the keynote speaker at her alma mater for the 2008 Virginia Tech graduation,[9] where she played Metallica's "Enter Sandman" over her iPod.[10] In 2010, Kotb was elected to a three-year term to the Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors.[11]
Kotb wrote a New York Times Bestselling Book, Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee,[12] which was released in hardcover in October 2010. 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.
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.Hoda Kotb, current TV host and journalist for NBC’s late morning show, Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda, will be releasing her third inspirational book, Where They Belong: The Best Decisions People Almost Never Make, in January of 2016. This third book comes just six years after Hoda released her first book, and nine years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Hoda Kotb’s upbringing, education, and work history gives some insight into this courageous, intelligent, and lighthearted author. According to Hoda, in an interview with Cancer Connect, “I am not wasting one more minute”, and it appears she meant it.
Hoda Kotb, the 50-year-old American-Egyptian beauty, born in Oklahoma to immigrant parents, and educated at Virginia Tech in Journalism, released her first autobiographic novel in 2010; How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer and Kathie Lee. According to Amazon.com, the book charmingly relays Hoda’s Egyptian heritage, dating with overly conservative parents, divorce, cancer, and overcoming with joy and courage. In her heritage of Arabic Egyptian, the name Hoda means “guidance.”
The significance of Hoda Kotb’s first book lies in the timing of it’s release. Hoda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, the same year she learned of her husband’s infidelity, and also began co-hosting with Kathie Lee. She reveals to Diana Price, of Cancer Connect, that she had a mastectomy with flap resection, but did not have chemotherapy as the cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes. She chose to take the common breast cancer treatment, Tamoxifen, for five years instead. She describes that the worst of the ordeal was healing from surgery. This is not unlike the experience expressed from the Food Network star Sandra Lee, as described in the Inquisitr article written by Jennifer Esposito.
Three years later, January of 2013, a thriving and successful Hoda released her second inspirational book, Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives. In an interview with Gotham, Hoda discusses her thoughts and feelings behind the book; “[W]hen you are going through something horrible, you realize that there is still someone who needs you. You could sit around and talk about how bad you have it in life or you can do something.”
Fans were happy to see Hoda Kotb continue on with her work with NBC, in both the roles of journalist and co-host with Kathie Lee, but expressed much happiness when she revealed she was dating someone. To both her viewers on her Today show and to Fox News via interview on Feb 10, 2015, she revealed just who she was dating and that was Joel Schiffman. She reports dating him for a couple of years and that he taught her how to love again. Co-host Kathie Lee told viewers that, “I’ve met him…he’s the greatest guy…and he loves her.”
No comments:
Post a Comment