Amna Nawaz, Prominent Journalist and PBS Co-Anchor, Will Deliver Johns Hopkins SAIS Commencement Address on May 19

Amna Nawaz, a prominent journalist and co-anchor of the PBS News Hour, will deliver the commencement address during the 2025 graduation ceremony for the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2025.

Nawaz is well-known for her insightful reporting and dedication to covering critical issues. Before joining the PBS News Hour in April 2018, she was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, where she led breaking news coverage and the network’s livestream coverage of the 2016 presidential election. Before that, she served as foreign correspondent and Islamabad bureau chief at NBC News. She is also the founder and former managing editor of NBC’s Asian America platform, built in 2014 to elevate stories from America’s fastest growing and most diverse population. In 2009, Nawaz was awarded a fellowship from SAIS’ International Reporting Project, supporting her in-depth reporting in Pakistan.
 
At the News Hour, Nawaz has reported from the White House, across the country, and around the world on topics including politics, immigration, foreign affairs, education, gun violence, criminal justice reform, the climate, culture, and sports. She also serves as an NBC News and MSNBC contributor.
 
Throughout her career, Nawaz has covered major events such as the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and the elections and inaugurations of Presidents Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama. She has interviewed multiple heads of state and international leaders including Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, as well as many lawmakers, top officials, and newsmakers across various industries.
 
Nawaz has received four Peabody Awards for News Hour team coverage of some of the biggest stories of our time, including the Hamas October 7 attacks in Israel, the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, and an in-depth report on the global plastic pollution problem.
 
Born and raised in Virginia, Nawaz is the first-generation American daughter of Pakistani parents. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she captained the varsity field hockey team and studied abroad at the University of Zimbabwe. She later earned her master’s degree from the London School of Economics.
 
Nawaz will deliver the commencement address at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C to an audience of around 2,700 members of the Johns Hopkins SAIS community: graduates, faculty, staff, family, and friends. The school will confer degrees on more than 700 graduates in the Master of Arts in International Relations, Master of Arts in Global Policy, Master of Arts in Global Risk, Master of Arts in Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence, Master of Arts in Sustainability Energy, Master’s in International Economics and Finance, Master of International Public Policy, Doctor of International Affairs, and Doctor of Philosophy programs.
 
This year, SAIS Europe’s commencement will take place in Bologna, Italy on May 17. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center’s commencement will be held in Nanjing, China on June 13. 

Media Contact

Asma Yousef
(771) 200-6659
[email protected]

About Johns Hopkins SAIS

For eight decades, students have come to the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) to learn from renowned faculty and distinguished policy practitioners, build their professional networks, and gain hands-on work experience.

The school was founded in 1943 by Paul H. Nitze and Christian A. Herter, statesmen who sought to prepare the next generation of leaders to meet the complex challenges the U.S. and the world would face following World War II. A distinguished faculty of scholars and policy experts developed an innovative curriculum that emphasized international politics, economics, and foreign languages. That program, combined with skills training and experiential learning, helped prepare students to make a difference in government, civil society, and the private sector. In 1955, SAIS established a campus in Bologna, Italy, and in 1986 the school initiated one of the first Western university programs in the People’s Republic of China in Nanjing.

Today, SAIS carries on this tradition, preparing students for the emerging challenges of the 21st century. Johns Hopkins SAIS’ living alumni number more than 24,000 graduates, a network of professionals working across the globe. From private-sector executives to entrepreneurs, leaders of nongovernmental organizations to ambassadors, and international media correspondents to energy consultants, SAIS alumni are defined by their innovative thinking, analytical approach, and policy expertise. They are leaders in their fields, lifelong students committed to the betterment of the world.

For more information, visit sais.jhu.edu or on X @SAISHopkins