NBC News anchor/correspondent and Virginia Tech alumna Hoda Kotb to deliver 2008 University Commencement address

Hoda Kotb, "Dateline NBC" correspondent and co-anchor of NBC's "Today" show, will address Virginia Tech's Class of 2008 during University Commencement exercises Friday, May 9, at Lane Stadium/Worsham Field.

The University Commencement ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m.

“We are extremely pleased that Hoda Kotb will deliver this year’s university commencement address,” said Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger. “Her distinguished career as a broadcast journalist and her many professional accomplishments will certainly inspire our graduates."

A graduate of Virginia Tech’s communications program in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Kotb recently visited Virginia Tech when she served as master of ceremonies at “The Campaign for Virginia Tech: Invent the Future” kickoff event last October.

Kotb was named co-anchor of the fourth hour of "Today" in August 2007. She has been a "Dateline NBC" correspondent since April 1998 and the host of the weekly syndicated series "Your Total Health" since September 2004.

In her nine years at NBC, Kotb has covered a variety of domestic and international stories. Most recently, she covered the aftermath and one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, she has reported on the war in Iraq, the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and the War on Terror in Afghanistan.

In 2004, Kotb traveled to Southeast Asia to cover the devastating effects of the tsunami. She also co-anchored an MSNBC special on race, "Shades of Hope…Shadows of Hate," which was reported from Birmingham, Ala. at the former site of a Klan bombing.

Kotb has received numerous awards, including the 2008 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the prestigious Peabody in 2006 for her "Dateline NBC" report "The Education of Ms. Groves." The four-time Emmy nominee also won the 2004 Headliner Award, 2003 Gracie Award and the 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award.

Previously, Kotb worked at WWL-TV, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans, La., where she served as an anchor and reporter for the 10 p.m. news broadcast from 1992 to 1998. She was a weekend anchor and reporter for WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Fla., from 1989 to 1991. Prior to that, Kotb was a morning anchor and general assignment reporter for WQAD-TV, the ABC affiliate in Moline, Ill., and an anchor for WXVT-TV, the CBS affiliate in Greenville, Miss., from 1986 to 1989. She began her broadcast career with CBS News as a news assistant in Cairo, Egypt, in 1986.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Southside, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.