Nicole Lapin aka Nicole biography

Real biography: Nicole Lapin is a news anchor for CNN.com Live, the network's live, multi-stream video service. Lapin guides users through news reports, anchors "Now in the News," a fast-paced hourly Web- and wireless-exclusive news update, and provides briefings on CNN and Headline News about the most popular stories on CNN.com.

Early Life

Nicole was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, the child of a scientist and a former beauty queen. She became interested in journalism while watching coverage of the Gulf War on CNN, which her parents barred her from watching due to "the perceived negativity and carnage." Lapin got her first broadcast experience when she was in high school and worked as the news anchor for the cable access station.

Education

At the age of 15 she attended Harvard University. She transferred to Northwestern University, where in 2005 she graduated as valedictorian of the Medill School of Journalism also earning honors for a second major in political science. Nicole also studied European Union politics at L'Institut d'Études Politique de Paris. While at Northwestern, she worked as an assignment editor for the Northwestern News Network. Even though she took time off to work professionally, she was still the youngest in her class.

Career

Lapin began her career as a correspondent at KELO-TV in Sioux Falls SD, WKYT-TV in Lexington, KY. She also served an investigative "I-Team" reporter for KPSP-LP in Palm Springs, CA. There she reported live from San Quentin Prison during the execution of Stanley Williams. Nicole then worked with the First Business Network, where she reported daily from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

She joined CNN in May 2006, becoming one of the youngest anchors in the network's history. She has anchored major events like the Virginia Tech massacre and the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. In 2007, she created an interview series at CNN called "Young People Who Rock" where she talks with people under the age of 30 who are doing remarkable things. Lapin is also an ambassador for the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, and created a chat series called "Being Smart is Cool" that educates children on global issues. Lapin has been on the cover of PowerGirls Magazine and Eliza Magazine.

Lapin has written a chapter in Harper Collins' "Declare Yourself: 50 celebrated Americans Tell You Why."

Her journalism awards include citations from the Chicago Emmy Committee, the Hearst Journalism Foundation, the Society of Professional Journalists, Radio-Television News Directors Association and the Association of Women Journalists.