David Muir may have only joined ABC News in 2003, and recently celebrated 20 years with the network, but he has been a fixture in broadcast news for much longer.
The popular news anchor, 49, was bitten by the journalism bug at a very early age and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Ithaca College in 1995.
While interning throughout college, he landed his first full-time broadcast gig with WTVH-TV, a local network in Syracuse, New York under the CBS umbrella.
As can be seen in clips from his tenure with the station, David sported the same chiseled looks mixed with a boyish charm from his early-mid 20s.
While possessing a more light-hearted style of reporting, he also had his signature half-smirk smile and sharp suits, plus coiffed hair that gave way to his distinctly polished style of the present.
From 1994-2000, David was a reporter for the network, embarking on notable international expeditions while also anchoring their news show, for which he received several plaudits.
His reports from Israel and the Gaza Strip following the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin earned him acclaim and several awards, being deemed one of the best local news anchors in Syracuse and being honored by the Associated Press with "Best Enterprise Reporting" and "Best Television Interview."
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After a stint with ABC-owned WCVB from 2000-2003, he was made part of the ABC News reporting team, starting as an anchor on ABC World News Now.
© Getty ImagesIn an interview with Broadcasting+Cable, David opened up about his early days with the network and the exciting rigors of the job he was exposed to from the very jump.
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"I remember when I was hired here, I was a week into the job, and it was the blackout of the Northeast," he recalled. "They'd hired me to be the overnight anchor and a correspondent. I was anchoring when the blackout happened.
© Getty Images"We had very little power in the building – we were operating on generators and there was no teleprompter and no monitors so I couldn't see what was actually airing."
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He remembered the life-changing experience as being one that motivated him to keep pushing to rise to the top of broadcast news. "I was on the air for hours.
© Getty Images"Times Square was dark, so they brought the Good Morning America team uptown. And I remember, when I signed off after hours of this coverage and said, 'For many of you, Good Morning America is next,' people in the newsroom stood up and started clapping.
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"I turned around and it was the Good Morning America team and I couldn't believe it. I mean, it was Charlie [Gibson] and Diane [Sawyer] and the team. After that, I felt as though I was off and running here."
© InstagramAfter several promotions through the years, David assumed his most well-known position, lead anchor of ABC's World News Tonight, on September 1, 2014.
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