Rutgers Alumna Looking Ahead to New Post at ‘Today’

She replaces Ann Curry, who moved up to the position of co-anchor of the long-running show when Meredith Vieira formally announced on May 9 that she is leaving the program in June.

A 1994 Rutgers graduate, Morales has been a member of the “Today” family since February 2006, when she signed on as national correspondent. She became co-host of the show’s third hour in March 2008.

Morales also served as a national correspondent for the MSNBC, “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” and “Dateline NBC.”

Her own personal datelines include the cockpit of an F-16 jet; the winter Olympics in Vancouver and Torino and the summer games in Athens; the neighborhoods of post-Hurricane Katrina; the 2009 presidential inaugural; and last month’s royal wedding in London.

She was on the scene as the rescue mission for the trapped Chilean miners played out last year, providing live translation and reporting as the hours and days wore on.

Morales, who was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2009, also had a hand in the coverage of the Tsunami disaster, the death of Pope John Paul II, the Iraqi War, and the Columbia shuttle disintegration.

Hispanic Magazine named her one of the “Top Hispanics to Watch in 2005,” and one of the “Top Trendsetters” of 2003.

None of this comes as any surprise to Steve Miller, coordinator of undergraduate studies for the Department of Journalism and Media Studies of the Rutgers School of Communication and Information, who taught Morales in his Advanced Television Broadcasting class in 1993.

“From day one, she was the total package,” Miller says of his former student. “She was a good writer, very inquisitive, the epitome of what a good journalism student should be. Once she got started in the field, she had the talent, the intelligence, and the wherewithal to succeed.”

Although she left Rutgers nearly two decades ago, the newswoman has kept in close touch not only with Miller, who was her academic advisor, but also with the university community as a whole.

In February 2008, she chose students associated with Rutgers’ Eagleton Institute of Politics to be part of a panel discussing the role of the youth vote in the upcoming presidential campaign, as well as other issues relevant to the under-25 age cohort.

The segment was shot at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences on the Cook Campus, and in a year when younger voters played a huge role, it gave viewers insight into the political savvy and passion of Rutgers’ students.

Most recently, Morales was the only alumna selected to be highlighted in an informational brochure SC&I plans distribute to the general public within the next few months.

“Diversity and a real world experience – these are Rutgers' finest attributes,” Morales notes in her remarks. “The school also afforded me great opportunities for internships because of its proximity to New York. My professors were the best in their fields and very much connected to the television and news industry, helping me forge my path once I left campus. It's hard not to succeed with a well-rounded education that goes beyond text books and lectures.”