Learn About Gwen Ifill, Moderator of the Biden/Palin Vice Presidential Debate

We're all used to seeing the likes of Tom Brokaw and Charles Gibson moderating political debates, but on October 2nd a relatively new (and different) face will be running the debate: Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

As moderator and managing editor of PBS' "Washington Week in Review" and senior correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Ifill has a savvy and no-nonsense style, which I'm hoping she'll bring to the debate. She joined the NewsHour in 1999 as a senior correspondent (and a substitute host for regular host Jim Lehrer). She is probably the most well-known black woman in American journalism, and the most respected.

(As you'd probably guess, I'm posting this profile because there's a connection to podcasting: both the "NewsHour" and "Washington Week" have podcasts that you can download. You can check them out through iTunes, or look for information on the PBS Web site, www.pbs.org.)

This year's VP debate won't be the first debate moderating stint for Ifill, either: she was the moderator for one of the Vice Presidential debates in the 2004 election.

Gwen Ifill worked for NBC News before coming to PBS, serving as chief congressional and political correspondent. She can still be seen occasionally as a panelist on NBC's "Meet the Press." Before joining NBC she covered beats including the White House, politics, and national affairs for publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Baltimore Evening Sun.

Born in New York City, the 53-year-old Ifill has received more than a dozen honorary degrees, according to her profile on A&E television's Biography.com.

You can find also find a biography of Ifill at the "Washington Week" Web site.

Gwen Ifill is also working on a book: she is the author of "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," to be published next year.