With distinguished salt-and-pepper hair, steely blue eyes and a wide smile, newsman Anderson Cooper grabbed audience attention and won far-reaching respect in an era of backlash against journalists, particularly with his emotional on-the-scene coverage of the devastation in New Orleans following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

The son of fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt, Cooper was born June 3, 1967 in New York, and graduated from Yale University in 1989 with a degree in political science. After studying Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi, Cooper got his start in the news industry as a fact checker for the news show Channel One (Channel One Network, 1992-1995), aired in junior high school classrooms. He convinced the show to let him do a broadcast from Vietnam and was soon broadcasting from Somalia, Bosnia, Iran and the Ukraine.

In 1995, Cooper became ABC News’ youngest correspondent at age 28. He began as a New York-based correspondent reporting primarily for “World News Saturday/Sunday” and eventually served as chief international correspondent. Working his way up to the anchor desk, Cooper filled in for Ted Koppel on the “World News Now” anchor desk and provided reports for “World News Tonight,” “20/20,” and “20/20 Downtown.” He won an Emmy Award for his coverage of Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997.

In 1999, Cooper was tapped for the anchor chair on “World News Now” (ABC) and two years later took a break from the seriousness for two entertainment-oriented gigs: he served as a technical advisor for the short-lived ABC drama “The Beast” (2000-2001) set in the fast-paced world of broadcast journalism starring Frank Langella, and then went on the host ABC’s unscripted game show series “The Mole” (ABC, 2001), a position his CNN fans would later find unthinkable, but early reality TV fans would relish as Cooper put contestants and celebrities through their paces trying to win the contest by determining which of their competitors was secretly working against the group.

Not one to let his journalism chops get rusty in between reality hosting gigs, he served as substitute host on “NewsNight with Aaron Brown” which served as his entrée to CNN. Cooper returned to ABC for “The Mole II: The Next Betrayal” (2001) but was soon back at CNN, joining the anchor desk for “American Morning with Paula Zahn” (CNN, 2001 – 2003).

At CNN, Cooper covered the 2003 tsunami in Southeast Asia (for which he won a National Headliner Award), the funeral of Pope John Paul II and the war in Iraq. Based on his increasing popularity with viewers, “Anderson Cooper 360º” (CNN, 2003 - ) launched and establish Cooper as one of the TV news industry’s marquee names just as established superstar anchors like Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Peter Jennings were leaving the airwaves. The show won praise for its cutting-edge reporting and launched a lively debate among fans over the host’s sexual orientation (a subject upon which Cooper coyly kept mum), and it was expanded to two hours in the fall of 2005.

For “America Votes 2004,” Cooper, also a regular contributor to ultra-hip Details magazine, was tapped to moderate the Democratic presidential debate forum sponsored by MTV’s “Rock the Vote,” and in 2005 the journalist rose to the forefront after his widely praised CNN coverage of both the ongoing conflict in Iraq and the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, putting a human face on the tolls of both without sacrificing serious reporting for maudlin sentimentality. He emerged as the first major news personality of his generation (though his trademark silver hair made him appear older than his years) to form the kind of implicit, trust-based bond with his audience that made his viewers want to hear his particular interpretation of the news of the day, a rare trait that earmarked him for even greater achievements.

Cooper himself made headlines in 2005 for snagging a $1 million advance on a memoir of his reporting on the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina.