Robert Warren "Bob" Woodruff (born August 18, 1961) is an American television journalist. His career in journalism dates back to 1989, but is best-known for succeeding Peter Jennings as co-anchor of ABC News' weekday news broadcast, World News Tonight in January 2006. Later the same month he was critically wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Woodruff was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, to Robert, Sr., and Fran Woodruff. Bob and his wife Lee McConaughy were married in 1988 and have four children.
He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he graduated from the private Cranbrook Kingswood school in 1979. He earned a B.A in 1983 from Colgate University, where he also played lacrosse...finishing his career with 184 points, second all-time at Colgate. Woodruff earned a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1987. He is an alumnus of Theta Chi Fraternity. He is fluent in German and Mandarin, in addition to his native English.
After graduating from law school, he worked as a bankruptcy associate at Shearman & Sterling. In 1989, while Woodruff was teaching law in Beijing, CBS News hired him as an on-screen interpreter during the Tiananmen Square incident. Shortly after this experience, he left the practice of law and became a full-time correspondent, initially working for several local stations, then moving to ABC News in 1996.
Bob Woodruff is not related to journalist Judy Woodruff.
On January 29, 2006, Bob Woodruff and Canadian cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously injured in an explosion from an improvised explosive device near Taji, Iraq, about north of Baghdad. Woodruff had traveled with an ABC News team to Israel to report on the aftermath of the 2006 Palestinian elections, and then via Amman to Baghdad, so he could meet with troops before President George W. Bush's State of the Union address for 2006.
At the time of the attack, they were embedded with the U.S. 4th Infantry Division, travelling in an Iraqi MT-LB. Woodruff and Vogt were standing with their heads above a hatch, apparently filming a stand-up. Both men were wearing body armor and protective helmets at the time. Woodruff sustained shrapnel wounds; Vogt was struck by shrapnel in the head and suffered a broken shoulder. Both men underwent surgery for head injuries, with a joint Army & Air Force neurosurgical team, at the U.S. Air Force hospital south of Balad, located in Camp Anaconda, and were reported to be in stable condition. Tom Brokaw reported on the Today show that Woodruff had also undergone surgery, with a portion of his skull being removed to reduce the damage from brain swelling.
Woodruff and Vogt were evacuated to the United States Army Medical Command hospital at Landstuhl, Germany overnight on Sunday, January 29. On ABC World News Tonight that evening, anchor Elizabeth Vargas discussed the dangers of reporting in a combat zone.
After leaving Germany, Woodruff was treated for weeks at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
Recovery from injuries
Woodruff was kept in a medically-induced coma for 36 days to assist his recovery, and ABC News temporarily assigned Good Morning America anchors Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer to alternate duties on the evening newscast as co-anchor with Vargas. Vogt meanwhile was reported to be awake, mobile, and recovering.
As of March 7, 2006, Woodruff's brother reported that the ABC anchor was beginning to walk, recognize friends and family, and speak in several languages. However, he struggled with expressive aphasia for more than a year after the injury. Woodruff was transferred on March 16, 2006 to a medical facility closer to his Westchester County, New York home, a sign of "continued progress in all respects", ABC News President David Westin said in an e-mail to staffers.Westin's email noted that Woodruff was able to get around, talk to and joke with his family, but that "months of further recuperation" were still required.
On April 6, 2006, ABC News released photos of Woodruff recovering at home, along with a letter thanking everyone for their support and kindness during his ongoing recovery. He especially thanked the soldiers, doctors, and nurses who had saved his life. On December 29, 2006, Woodruff's wife, Lee, an editor at Family Fun Magazine appeared on Good Morning America to discuss family activities to celebrate the New Year. During the report, anchor Kate Snow asked Lee about her husband's condition. Lee said that Bob was doing well and was currently filming a television documentary about his experiences. She also revealed that he had been back to Iraq since the incident to visit the soldiers with whom he was traveling with at the time of his injury.
Consequences at ABC News
ABC's World News Tonight remained second in the Nielsen Media Research rankings, though it has lost some ground to NBC's first-place Nightly News, anchored by Brian Williams. Schieffer also closed the gap with ABC after Woodruff's injury. On May 23, 2006, Vargas announced her resignation from WNT, citing her doctors' recommendation to cut back her schedule considerably due to her upcoming maternity leave, and her wish to spend more time with her new baby. Gibson was then named sole anchor of the show, effective May 29, 2006.
Return to air
On February 27, 2007, Woodruff appeared on Good Morning America, ABC World News with Charles Gibson, and The Oprah Winfrey Show, in advance of a documentary that aired on ABC later that evening. Despite having made great progress in his recovery, during the GMA interview with Diane Sawyer, Woodruff had some difficulty remembering words and details, such as the name of the Vietnam War and the word "injury". The hour-long documentary, "To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports", explored the consequences of traumatic brain injury, and highlighted the difficulties brain injured veterans face finding treatment ... a subject which had first appeared in Discover magazine several weeks earlier, and was elaborated on by Washington Post reporters in the exposé, "Painting Over the Problems at Walter Reed's Building 18".
Woodruff resumed his contributions to ABC World News with Charles Gibson the following day, February 28, with the first in a series of followup reports focusing on the problems that wounded American soldiers are encountering in their treatment and recovery, particularly at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Starting March 7, he was scheduled to begin reporting for Nightline "at regular intervals".
On July 12, 2008, Woodruff began hosting a new weekly eco-newscast, Focus Earth with Bob Woodruff, on Planet Green. On Focus Earth, Woodruff covers the environmental news of the week, looking at subjects ranging from climate impact, environmental policy, political debate and world events, as well as how climate change affects religious and cultural views and issues.
Book
In February 2007, Bob and Lee Woodruff published an account of their lives after Bob's injury, In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing. It details the beginnings of Woodruff's journalism career and the building of Bob and Lee's family. The book delves into the explosion in Iraq that affected his family and focuses on Bob's lengthy, ongoing recovery. A percentage of the proceeds are donated to the Bob Woodruff Foundation.
More than 1.65 million U.S. service members have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since September 11, 2001. More than 35,000 service members have been physically wounded. Based on surveys of previously-deployed service members, it is estimated that more than 320,000 have probably sustained traumatic brain injuries and more than 300,000 have probable psychological wounds . ReMIND.org is spreading this message and raising money to give injured service members, veterans and their families the local support and resources they deserve as they heal and reintegrate into their communities.
Mission
ReMIND.org, a Bob Woodruff Foundation Initiative, provides resources and support to injured service members, veterans and their families, and is building a movement to empower communities nationwide to take action to successfully reintegrate our nation’s injured heroes ... especially those who have sustained the hidden injuries of war ... back into their communities, and ensure they thrive physically, psychologically, socially, and economically.
On May 20, 2007, Bob and Lee Woodruff gave the commencement address at Colgate University, their alma mater.
On May 11, 2008, Woodruff gave the commencement address at Syracuse University in the Carrier Dome. On April 26, 2008, Woodruff received an honorary degree and delivered a commencement at the University of Michigan spring graduation.
Woodruff and his wife Lee are scheduled to deliver the commencement address at the University of Arizona on May 15, 2010.
Woodruff is also scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Niagara University on May 22, 2010.
