Andrea Mitchell Named Honoree for the 2005 Matrix Awards for Professional Achievement.

WASHINGTON -- Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News, is the 2005 honoree at the Association of Women in Communications, Washington, DC Chapter (AWC-DC) Annual Matrix Awards for Professional Achievement today at the Hotel Washington.

Each year, AWC-DC honors a top woman communicator with the Matrix Award. Mitchell, who has held her position since November 1994, reports on evolving foreign policy issues in the United States and abroad for all NBC News broadcasts, including "Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Today" and on both CNBC and MSNBC. Mitchell's extensive and varied reports include a series of exclusive interviews over the years with Cuban President Fidel Castro, the United Nations debate leading up to the Iraq war, and Osama Bin Ladin and his Al Qaeda network for "Nightly News with Tom Brokaw." As one of NBC News' top political correspondents, Mitchell also hosted MSNBC's "The Mitchell Report," NBC News' election year broadcast of record, throughout the Decision 2000 campaign. Over the years, Mitchell has appeared on "Meet the Press" as a panelist and substitute moderator. An acclaimed political reporter, she has also covered every presidential election since 1972.

Judy Woodruff, prime anchor and senior correspondent, CNN, anchor, "Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics" and veteran of broadcast journalism, presented the prestigious Matrix award to Mitchell. Woodruff is also an AWC honoree for the Association of Women in Communications 2003 International Matrix Award and the 1997 AWC-DC Matrix Award.

Dr. Doree Lynn, psychologist, author and host of www.FiftyandFurthermore.com, was the emcee for the annual event.

AWC-DC honors outstanding area communications students with a $1,000 Student Scholarship Award, sponsored by the Gannett Foundation. This year's student scholarship winners are Kimberly Ricker and Lucia Walinchus. Ricker attends the University of Maryland and is a communications major and women's studies minor. Walinchus attends American University and is a print journalism major and environmental science minor.

Past AWC-DC Matrix Award winners have included: Jamie Foster Brown, publisher, Sister-2-Sister Magazine and Maria Rodriguez, co-founder, Vanguard Communications (2004); Kathleen Matthews, news anchor, ABC-7 and Victoria (Torie) Clarke, formerly Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (2003); Diane Rehm, host, the Diane Rehm Show, WAMU 88.5 (Radio), Maureen Bunyan, primary news anchor, ABC-7, plus special honors for AWC Hall of Fame Inductee Elizabeth Campbell (WETA) (2002); and Rita Cosby, Senior Correspondent, Fox TV News Channel (2001).

The Association of Women in Communications (www.womcom.org), has its roots as Theta Sigma Phi, founded as the journalism honorary for women in 1909 at the University of Washington in Seattle. AWC's membership has expanded to represent all fields of contemporary communications, including: print and broadcast journalism; public relations, marketing and advertising; nonprofit and corporate communications; book and magazine publishing; graphic design; video production and multimedia; new media and Internet technology.

The national association has more than 80 student chapters and 60 professional chapters, of which AWC-DC, (www.awcdc.net), with more than 100 members, is one of the most active.