Carol Lin ’84

Despite covering numerous major news stories, CNN anchor Carol Lin ’84 perhaps is most known for being the first to break the news of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. She was live on air just three minutes after the first plane crashed into the first tower of the World Trade Center and continued her reports throughout September.

During her time at CNN, though, Lin has covered and anchored a number of other major news stories, such as the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, the impeachment trial of President Clinton, the rebuilding of Kosovo, CNN’s millennium night coverage from New York City’s Times Square and the demise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. During the 2000 election, she anchored the New Hampshire Primary and the Democratic National Convention, and in 2002, she anchored the rescue of the nine miners in Somerset, Penn., who were trapped for 77 hours.

This year, Lin might be remembered by Bruin fans for showing her blue-and-gold spirit on air during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Currently, Lin is a primetime anchor for CNN’s weekend news program, CNN Saturday Night and CNN Sunday Night. Lin first began her career with CNN in 1998 anchoring CNN Early Edition,CNN Live at Daybreak and CNN NewsStand.

Before joining CNN, Lin was an anchor and correspondent for KTTV-TV in Los Angeles where her reporting on immigrant smuggling, consumer fraud and the Los Angeles riots earned her three Los Angeles Press Club Awards for Outstanding Investigative Reporting. She then worked on ABC’s Good Morning America as a national correspondent and substitute anchor. She also reported for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.

As an undergraduate at UCLA, Lin earned her degree in political science, giving her invaluable training for her career as a top prime time journalist. She received the Radio-Television News Directors Association Awards for Best Investigative Reporting in 1995 and Best Breaking News in 1998. She was also the first recipient of the National IMAGE Award by the Organization of Chinese Americans.

In her free time, Lin uses her influence to push children a positive direction. Eager to inspire children with high ambitions, Lin spoke at the 2005 Women’s Leadership Conference and is involved in the Knowledge is Power Program, which provides high quality public education to inner-city children.