Emmy-Award winning journalist and Loyola University New Orleans alumnus Tom Llamas '01, was recently named the anchor of WNBC's 5 p.m. newscast in New York City, the nation's largest media market. In addition to his duties on the anchor desk, Llamas will continue to report in the field as a contributing correspondent to NBC News.

In his 10 year career, Llamas has covered everything from political campaigns to the death of Anna Nicole Smith to the earthquake in Haiti.
Most recently, Llamas spent the last two weeks tracking Hurricane Irene as it barreled up the U.S. east coast.

"Being from Miami and going to school in New Orleans, I'm used to hurricanes. I chased hurricanes all the time through the Caribbean and was even in Biloxi for Katrina," Llamas said. "But to have one hit New York, well, I guess living up here you have to learn to expect the unexpected."

Llamas also met his wife, Jennifer Llamas '01, who is a line producer for MSNBC, while studying journalism and drama at Loyola. He says as a student in the School of Mass Communication, he was able to gain the critical skills necessary to get that all-important first job.

"I took away from Loyola a lot of great life experiences that I still use today. We had a great broadcast journalism program, great faculty and what we considered a working newsroom," Llamas added. "It was real world experience, but right inside the classroom. We were given a really strong writing and reporting foundation that definitely helped me out."

Before coming to WNBC in 2005, Llamas worked at NBC owned WTVJ in Miami and MSNBC as a political reporter.