Savannah Guthrie - Biography

Biography

Savannah Clark Guthrie, named for her great-grandmother, was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1971, but moved to Tucson, Arizona, two years later. She graduated from Amphitheater High School in Tucson.

Guthrie received her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Arizona, graduating Cum laude in 1993. She was a member of the Arizona Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi. Her first job in broadcasting was at television station KMIZ, in Columbia, Missouri, where she worked for two years before returning to Tucson and a job with NBC affiliate KVOA in 1995. After five years in Arizona, she took a job at WRC-TV, Washington, D.C. where she covered major stories like the September 11, 2001, attack on The Pentagon and the 2001 anthrax attacks. Leaving WRC in 2002, she became a reporter for CourtTV while also working for a Washington D.C. law firm. She covered high-profile legal proceedings including the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, the abduction and murder trial of Carlie Brucia, the Martha Stewart case, and the Michael Jackson trial.

After working several years as a broadcast journalist Guthrie chose to resume her higher education, receiving a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2002. She is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Arizona, having scored first place on the Arizona Bar Exam. She also was a member of Order of the Coif and received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers' Student Advocacy award for her work with victims of domestic violence. She worked for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where she served as a litigation associate, specializing in white-collar criminal defense. Prior to serving in this capacity, she was a Law Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching a first-year Legal Research and Writing workshop on a weekly basis.

Guthrie became a reporter for NBC News in 2008, covering Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential race from Fairbanks, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Sioux City, Iowa, and Washington. On December 18, 2008, she was named White House correspondent for NBC News. In this capacity, she contributed to all NBC News properties. She substituted for David Shuster on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Willie Geist on Way Too Early. She also substituted for David Gregory on "Meet the Press" on August 21, 2011, and April 1, 2012.

Guthrie was the commencement speaker for the University of Arizona's 2011 graduation ceremony, as well as for Hobart and William Smith Colleges' 2012 graduating classes.