Linda Vester

{{Short description|American television news personality}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Linda Vester | image =  | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|6|11}}| | birth_place = [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, U.S. | death_date =  | death_place = | alma_mater = [[Boston University]] | other_names = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Glenn H. Greenberg | family = [[Hank Greenberg]] (father-in-law)<br>[[Stephen Greenberg]] (brother-in-law) }}

'''Linda Vester''' (born June 11, 1965) is an American television news host. She was the anchor of ''[[NBC News at Sunrise]]'' on NBC and ''DaySide with Linda Vester'' on the [[Fox News]]. She left television in 2005 to raise her children. She later produced an award-winning {{Citation needed|date=April 2018}} documentary and most recently founded a website for moms.

== Early life and education == Linda Vester is the daughter of the late Joan Vester Schoettinger and the late John Vester of Cincinnati, Ohio.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news| title =WEDDINGS; Linda Vester, Glenn Greenberg| newspaper =[[The New York Times]]| date =May 6, 2001| url =https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/06/style/weddings-linda-vester-glenn-greenberg.html| access-date =May 24, 2015}}</ref> She graduated [[Latin honors|magna cum laude]] from [[Boston University]] with a bachelor's degree in [[journalism]] in 1987. She received an honors diploma from the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] in [[France]] after attending for one semester in 1985. In 1998 she was awarded a [[Fulbright scholarship|Fulbright Scholarship]] to study Arabic and [[Middle East]] Affairs at the [[The American University in Cairo|American University in Cairo]], [[Egypt]]. She learned to speak both [[French language|French]] and [[Arabic]] fluently<ref name=Adweek>{{cite news| author =Alissa Krinsky| title = Where Are They Now? Linda Vester| newspaper =[[Adweek]]| date =September 17, 2014| url = http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/where-are-they-now-linda-vester/237588| access-date = May 24, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title =Linda Vester| quote =Ms. Vester earned her B.S. magna cum laude in Journalism at Boston University in 1987. She studied as a Fulbright Scholar of Middle East Affairs in Egypt from 1988 to 1989; during this time, she frequently traveled to Gaza and the West Bank to write about the first Intifada. Ms. Vester also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1985.| newspaper =Institute of International Education| url =http://www.iie.org/en/Who-We-Are/Governance/Board-of-Trustees/linda-vester| access-date =May 24, 2015| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150524233456/http://www.iie.org/en/Who-We-Are/Governance/Board-of-Trustees/linda-vester| archive-date =May 24, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author =Susan Hines-Brigger | title =Waking Up With NBC's Linda Vester | newspaper = [[St. Anthony Messenger]]| date =November 1997 | url = http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Nov1997/feature1.asp| access-date = May 24, 2015}}</ref>

== Career == Vester began her journalism career while interning for [[CBS News Sunday Morning|CBS News's]] Paris Bureau in 1985 and Boston bureau in 1986–87. In 1987, her first on-air position as a general news reporter was at [[KHGI-TV]] in [[Kearney, Nebraska]]. After pausing to pursue her [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright Scholarship]] in Egypt, she was hired by [[NBC News]] to be groomed as a foreign correspondent.

Her training at [[NBC]] began in 1989 as a researcher and field producer in New York. In early 1990, NBC News management sent her to affiliate [[WFLA-TV]] to continue her on-air training, with the provision that they could call on her to report for the network when needed.

NBC exercised that provision when [[Iraq]] invaded [[Kuwait]] in 1990, which led to [[Gulf War|Operation Desert Shield]] and [[Gulf War|Operation Desert Storm]]. Because of Vester's Arabic language ability and background in Middle East Affairs, NBC temporarily pulled her from WFLA-TV to report from [[Saudi Arabia]] for its affiliate stations.

When the [[Gulf War]] ended, Vester returned to WFLA-TV until 1992, when she was dispatched to NBC's Washington affiliate, [[WRC-TV]], in a shared agreement during which she reported for the affiliate on weekdays and for the network on weekends. During that period she covered the [[White House]], Pentagon and [[United States Department of State|State Department]] as well as the humanitarian disaster from [[Somalia]].

In mid-1993, Vester was promoted to full-time network correspondent, reporting for NBC's ''Weekend Today'' program. Assignments included reporting from [[Haiti]] during a [[coup d'état]]<nowiki/>t. In early 1994, she was posted to NBC's London bureau, covering foreign affairs for all of the network's newscasts. Among her assignments were the [[Rwandan genocide]], about which she later produced the award-winning 2005 documentary “Back Home”, directed by Rwandan refugee J.B. Rutagarama.{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}}

In 1996, Vester was reassigned back to the United States, reporting from [[WMAQ-TV|NBC's Chicago]] bureau. A year later, she was promoted to anchor of NBC News at Sunrise and moved to [[New York City|New York]]. During this time she also anchored afternoon news coverage on [[MSNBC]].

In 1999, Vester was hired by Fox News Channel to host its afternoon newscasts. She anchored part of the channel's live coverage during [[September 11 attacks|9/11]] and hosted an exclusive interview with [[O. J. Simpson|O.J. Simpson]]. In 2003, Fox News debuted a news program with a live audience, ''Dayside with Linda Vester''. She continued in this position until July 2005, while pregnant with her second child. Then-CEO [[Roger Ailes]] agreed to release her from her contract to be a stay-at-home mom. [[Juliet Huddy]] and [[Mike Jerrick]] hosted ''DaySide'' until it was replaced with ''[[The Live Desk (American TV program)|The Live Desk]]'' with [[Martha MacCallum]] in late 2006.

== Personal life == Linda Vester, a [[Roman Catholic]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=NBC News Faces Skepticism In Remedying In-House Sexual Harassment |newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=April 26, 2018 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/nbc-news-faces-skepticism-in-remedying-in-house-sexual-harassment/2018/04/26/7fa8a666-4979-11e8-8b5a-3b1697adcc2a_story.html }}</ref> married Glenn H. Greenberg, a Wall Street investor and son of baseball Hall of Famer [[Hank Greenberg]] and Caral Gimbel, the daughter of [[Bernard Gimbel]] of the [[Gimbels|Gimbel's]] department store family, on May 5, 2001, in [[New York City]].<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Together they have four children<ref name=Adweek /> in addition to Greenberg's three grown children from his prior marriage.

While raising their children, [[philanthropy]] became a priority for Vester. She serves as a trustee for the [[Institute of International Education]], which administers the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. She also serves as a trustee for Summer Steps, an early-childhood education program in New York that prepares low-income preschoolers for kindergarten.

Vester and Greenberg have endowed a psychiatry chair at [[Yale School of Medicine|Yale Medical School]] for the study of [[Posttraumatic stress disorder|PTSD]]. They were inspired to do so after Vester experienced PTSD in the Gulf War and Rwanda. They are avid supporters of the Warrior Scholar Project, an academic boot camp that helps Iraq and Afghanistan veterans complete their college education after combat. They also are involved with the [[Posse Foundation]], currently financially supporting the college education of a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. In addition, Vester has endowed a college scholarship for girls at her former high school, [[Ursuline Academy (Cincinnati, Ohio)|Ursuline Academy]], in Cincinnati, Ohio.

==Sexual harassment accusation== In April 2018, Vester accused NBC Anchor [[Tom Brokaw]] of two incidents of [[sexual harassment]], when she was working for NBC. She accused him of tickling and trying to kiss her on separate occasions while she worked there in the 1990s. Brokaw gave a different version of the incidents, denying any harassment.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/04/tom-brokaw-sexual-harassment-allegations-linda-vester|title=Tom Brokaw Accused of Sexual Harassment by Two Former NBC Colleagues|last=Bradley|first=Laura|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|access-date=April 29, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Guthrie|first=Marisa|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tom-brokaw-rips-sensational-accuser-claims-i-was-ambushed-perp-walked-1106418|title=Tom Brokaw Rips "Sensational" Accuser Claims: I Was "Ambushed and Then Perp Walked"|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=April 27, 2018|access-date=April 29, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/business/media/tom-brokaw-harassment.html|title=Tom Brokaw, in Email, Angrily Denies Harassment Claim|last=Grynbaum|first=Michael M.|date=April 27, 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=April 29, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/27/media/tom-brokaw-letter-linda-vesters/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427213405/http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/27/media/tom-brokaw-letter-linda-vesters/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2018|title=Tom Brokaw rails against sexual harassment allegations|last=Stelter|first=Brian|work=CNNMoney|date=April 27, 2018|access-date=April 29, 2018}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060404214455/http://www.foxnews.com/dayside/ Dayside on FOXNews.com]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vester, Linda}} [[Category:1965 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American television reporters and correspondents]] [[Category:University of Paris alumni]] [[Category:Boston University College of Communication alumni]] [[Category:NBC News people]] [[Category:American women television journalists]] [[Category:Fox News people]] [[Category:Gimbel family]]