Katie Couric's Most Memorable Moments in Photos

Even as a kid growing up in Virginia, Katie Couric clearly had that star quality. She got her start as a journalist in the Washington, D.C., ABC news bureau, before working her way up to Pentagon correspondent for NBC News in 1989.

Also in 1989, Couric married attorney John Paul "Jay" Monahan III.

The couple welcomed two daughters: Elinor, a.k.a. Ellie, in 1991, and Caroline, a.k.a. Carrie, in 1996.

After guest-anchoring for several years, Couric was hired to fill in at the Today show desk while host Deborah Norville was on maternity leave; Norville did not return and Couric landed the job full-time in April 1991.

Pictured in the early years, Couric shares a laugh alongside anchors Bryant Gumbel and Gene Shalit.

Couric became a staple of early morning television, mastering lighter fare (like hosting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade coverage alongside Al Roker and Matt Lauer) and tougher interviews, including multiple presidents.

Here, Couric has "more fun" during one of Today's iconic Halloween episodes.

In 1998, Jay died of colon cancer. Couric won a prestigious Peabody Award for her series Confronting Colon Cancer, in which she aimed to take the stigma away from getting preventive colonoscopies. She also co-founded Stand Up to Cancer, an organization dedicated to raise awareness of the prevalence of cancer and funds to fight it.

After 15 years at Today, Couric announced in 2006 that she would be leaving to anchor the CBS Evening News as the first-ever solo female evening news anchor. The show earned multiple awards and she landed major interviews (including the now-iconic sit-down with then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin), but she left at the end of her contract in 2011.

From 2012 to 2014, Couric hosted Katie, a daytime talk show, for ABC.

In 2014, Couric wed financier John Molner in New York's East Hampton. "It was so nice to celebrate such a happy occasion, because we've been through a lot in our lives," Couric told PEOPLE at the time.

Couric is a proud mom to Ellie and Carrie, often featuring them in sweet throwbacks on her social media and recently celebrating Ellie's wedding . She also released her memoir, Going There, in 2021, reflecting on the major moments in her life.