Fox News anchor Uma Pemmaraju died on Wednesday at age 64. She was with the channel when it aired for the first time in 1996. During the course of her career, Pemmaraju interviewed high-profile personalities like the Dalai Lama, former US President Donald Trump, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Whoopi Goldberg, and others.

Mourning her death, Fox News CEO, Suzanne Scott, said, “We are deeply saddened by the death of Uma Pemmaraju, who was one of FOX News Channel’s founding anchors and was on the air the day we launched. Uma was an incredibly talented journalist as well as a warm and lovely person”.

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Pemmaraju was born in India but by the time she was six, her family had moved to the United States. She spent her growing years in San Antonio, Texas, and later went on to obtain her undergraduate degree in political science from Trinity University. Pemmaraju’s career in the news industry began with stints at KENS-TV and the newspaper, San Antonio Express-News. The veteran journalist won an Emmy Award while she was working for Baltimore’s WMAR-TV. After a few short-lived jobs, Pemmaraju began her tenure with Fox News in 1996.

Fox News Now and Fox On Trends were the first shows that Pemmaraju anchored. Other Fox specials like A Special for Young People found her as the host. Pemmaraju’s daughter, Kirina, made a surprise appearance on live television on Mother’s Day in 2012 to wish her while she was anchoring a news segment.

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Pemmaraju had won several awards for her work as a journalist and TV anchor. She was adjudged Boston’s Best Anchor by the magazine Boston for 1996 and 1997. Besides her journalistic endeavours, Pemmaraju had also taught at Emerson College and Harvard University. 

While speaking with The Boston Globe in 1993, Pemmaraju said her wish was to help people using her celebrity status, “I’m a conduit to help other people. I don’t want to sound too sentimental, but that’s what I’m about”.