Building Bridges Luncheon

Bob Woodruff joined ABC News in 1996 and has covered major stories throughout the country and around the world for the network. He succeeded Peter Jennings as anchor of “ABC World News Tonight” in December 2005. On January 29, 2006, while reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces, Woodruff was seriously injured by a roadside bomb that struck his armored vehicle near Taji, Iraq.

In February 2007, just 13 months after being wounded, Woodruff returned to ABC News with his first on-air report, “To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports.” The hour-long, prime-time documentary chronicled his traumatic brain injury (TBI), his painstaking recovery and the plight of thousands of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with similar injuries.

Since returning to the air, Woodruff has reported from around the globe. He has traveled to North Korea eight times, investigating the growing nuclear threats in the hands of Kim Jong Il and then his son Kim Jong Un. Since 2015, Woodruff has been ABC’s primary correspondent throughout Asia, especially China, reporting on topics ranging from the controversial treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang province to the United States’ presence in the South China Sea. In 2008, ABC News aired his critically acclaimed documentary “China Inside Out,” which examined how China’s global rise impacts what’s being called the “Chinese Century.” On the streets of Manila, he has seen the rising violence and murders following President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug policies. He traveled to Japan in the wake of the devastating natural disasters to report on the stabilization of nuclear reactors in the country.

Previously, Woodruff was anchor of the weekend edition of “World News Tonight” and one of ABC News’ top correspondents. Before moving to New York in 2002, Woodruff worked out of ABC News’ London bureau, covering conflicts throughout Europe and Africa; as well as adventures with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, traveling extensively with the young members of the royal family.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, he was among the first Western reporters into Pakistan and was one of ABC’s lead foreign correspondents during the war in Afghanistan, reporting from Kabul and Kandahar on the fall of the Taliban. His overseas reporting of the fallout from 9/11 was part of ABC News’ coverage recognized with the Alfred I. duPont Award and the George Foster Peabody Award, the two highest honors in broadcast journalism. He was also a part of the ABC News team recognized with a duPont Award for live coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. For his extensive coverage of traumatic brain injuries, he was honored with another George Foster Peabody Award. He has garnered six Emmy Awards, his most recent resulting from his reports about the brutal treatment of the Rohingya ethnic group by the government of Myanmar.

Before becoming a journalist, Woodruff was an attorney. While teaching law in Beijing in 1989, he was hired by CBS News to work as a translator during the Tiananmen Square uprising. A short time later, he changed careers. As ABC’s Justice Department correspondent in Washington in the late 1990s, he covered the office of Attorney General Janet Reno, the FBI and ATF.

In February 2007, Woodruff and his wife, Lee, co-wrote a bestselling memoir, “In an Instant,” chronicling his injuries in Iraq and how their family persevered through a time of intense trauma and uncertainty. The Woodruff family established the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) to raise money to assist injured service members, veterans and their families.

Woodruff has a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University. He and Lee have four children.

Born outside Chicago and raised 45 minutes north of New York City in the small village of Pleasantville, Ali has loved performing for as long as she can remember. She made her Broadway debut as Cosette in the 1st Broadway Revival of Les Miserables and starred as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway for over two years, including during the show’s 30th Anniversary celebration. Ali’s mother was born and raised in The Philippines, which made Ali the first Asian-American woman to play Christine on Broadway.

She appeared in Lincoln Center’s recent Tony Award Winning revival of The King and I and as Luisa in The Fantasticks Off-Broadway, the world’s longest-running musical. Her other credits include: The Secret Garden (Rose) at CTG in Los Angeles, Chicago (Mary Sunshine), 1776 (Martha Jefferson) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Philia) at The Muny in St. Louis, Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown) at Sacramento Music Circus, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s The King and I (Tuptim), McCarter Theatre’s A Christmas Carol (Fan/Mrs. Bonds) and a one-woman adaptation of Anne of Green Gables Off-Broadway.

Ali performed her solo cabaret at Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York and has sung in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in PhilDev Celebrates Broadway: Suites by Sondheim and The Town Hall with Adam Jacobs. She made her NY Pops Carnegie Hall debut with Matt Doyle and Maestro Steven Reinecke and her other concert work includes The American Pops Orchestra under the direction of Luke Frazier, The Houston Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Kaohsiung Symphony, Danville Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Music in the Mountains Orchestra and the Boston Pops with Maestro Keith Lockhart. Her TV/Film credits include The Michael J. Fox Show, Yield, Drama: The Web Series, and the short film Mia.

Ali has a BA in psychology from Yale University, which has proved surprisingly relevant to her career.

David Hancock Turner is a Music Director & Pianist. Recent shows in NYC include The Butcher Boy and A Child’s Christmas in Wales at the Irish Repertory Theatre; Penelope, Cheek to Cheek, Desperate Measures, and many other shows at The York Theatre. To learn more about David, visit davidhancockturner.com.