Ray Suarez
Suarez in 2007
Born	Rafael Suarez, Jr. March 5, 1957 (1957-03-05) (age 51) Brooklyn, New York, USA
Education	BA, New York University and an MA, University of Chicago
Occupation	Journalist, Anchor
Spouse	Carole
Children	Rafael, Eva and Isabel
Ethnicity	Puerto Rican
Religious belief(s)	Episcopalian
Notable credit(s)	The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Talk of the Nation, American RadioWorks

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

Personal life

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated in 1974 from John Dewey High School. In 1975 he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Brooklyn Council.^[1] Suarez earned a BA in African History from New York University and an MA in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.^[2] He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Carole, and three children, Rafael, Eva and Isabel. Suarez is deeply religious, and active locally and nationally in the Episcopal Church. ^[3]

Publications

He is the author of the 1999 book The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration: 1966-1999^[4], 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^[5], 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 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.

Honors

• Named as a 1996 Utne Reader "Visionaries"
• Named as Hispanic Business "100 Influentials" among American Latinos
• 1995 Global Awareness Award by Current History Magazine^[2]
• 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)
• 1994-95 duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Awards (part of NPR's award for coverage of the first 100 days of the 104th Congress)
• 1996 Ruben Salazar Award from the National Council of La Raza
• 2005 Distinguished Policy Leadership Award from UCLA's School of Public Policy
• Distinguished Alumnus Award from NYU
• Professional Achievement Award from the University of Chicago.
• Honorary doctorates
  • Muhlenberg College
  • Westminster College
  • Xavier University
  • Marymount Manhattan College
  • St. John's University
  • Bloomfield College
• Fellowships
  • Benton Fellowship in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Chicago.

See also

• National Association of Hispanic Journalists

External links

• The Online NewsHour: Ray Suarez
• America Abroad: Ray Suarez

Notes