In June 2025, veteran journalist Tom Llamas, Loyola ’01, became anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News,” assuming the role previously held by Lester Holt. He also serves double duty as anchor of “Top Story with Tom Llamas,” which can be seen on the network’s streaming service, NBC News NOW.

Llamas has covered a wide range of major news stories over his 25- year professional career, including presidential elections, the Israel-Hamas war, the war in Ukraine, the migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, multiple Olympic Games and numerous natural disasters, including the 2023 Lahaina wildfires. Since becoming anchor, Llamas has anchored the newscast from Israel, Texas, Miami, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Alaska, and conducted numerous headline-making interviews, including with President Donald Trump, Iran’s foreign minister and president, and soccer legend Lionel Messi.

He grew up watching the news with his family and decided in high school that he wanted a career in broadcast news. That early drive led Llamas to secure his first job in the industry at 15 as an intern at Telemundo and, after college, a role as a general assignment reporter at the NBC affiliate in his hometown of Miami. Within a few years, Llamas was reporting and anchoring at WNBC in New York City.

His star continued to rise with a move to ABC, where he became a correspondent in 2014 and was quickly named chief national affairs correspondent. By the next year, he was anchoring the weekend edition of the network’s national “World News Tonight” newscast and filling in on weeknights. After nearly seven years at ABC, Llamas returned to NBC as senior national correspondent and began anchoring “Top Story.”

Llamas is the recipient of two Emmys, two Edward R. Murrow awards and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Presidential Award of Impact. Llamas was also recognized by Time magazine on its 2025 Latino Leaders list as one of just 12 honorees and received a 2026 First Amendment Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association.

His ascent to the top anchor spot at NBC News makes Llamas the first Latino to helm a U.S. weeknight evening news broadcast.

Llamas, who joined the Fraternity at SigEp’s Louisiana Gamma chapter, honed his leadership skills while serving as chapter president and vice president of recruitment.