Vinita Nair: Breaking New Ground

When Vinita Nair ’03 graduated from Northwestern, she didn’t see many Indian-American TV journalists in network news. But since then, she says, “The landscape has changed, and I’m proud to be a part of it.” Nair was born in Evanston and raised in Colleyville, Texas. The New York City–based CBS News correspondent started her television career at an NBC affiliate in Quincy, Ill. She made stops in Lincoln, Neb., and Denver before network gigs with ABC, NBC and MSNBC. Now Nair, co-host of CBS This Morning: Saturday, juggles parenthood — she and her husband, Osman, have a nearly 3-year-old son — with a schedule that starts at 3:30 a.m. on Saturdays and 6 a.m. on most weekdays. With CBS, Nair has traveled to Rome to cover the papal transition and to Moore, Okla., to cover the tragic 2013 tornadoes. Most recently Nair anchored coverage of the Paris terror attacks in January for the network’s digital streaming channel, CBSN. She is a correspondent and substitute anchor for CBS This Morning and a correspondent for CBS Evening News. “I’m living my dream,” says Nair. “I get a front-row seat to history.”