Elizabeth Vargas (born 1963 in an American military base in Japan) is the first woman of Puerto Rican origin to be named anchor of "ABC News 20/20".

Vargas was born from a Puerto Rican father and an Irish-American mother. Her father was a Captain in the U.S. Army stationed in Japan where she was born.

Vargas graduated with a Bachelors Degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia. There she debuted in her broadcasting career as a reporter/anchor for "KOMU-TV".

Vargas spent four years as a reporter and anchor for "WBBM-TV", the CBS affiliate in Chicago. From 1986-1989, she was the lead reporter for "KTVK-TV", the ABC affiliate in Phoenix.

According to Phyllis McGrady, a senior vice president at ABC "Elizabeth is one of the most flexible talents I've ever worked with, she could do interviews, and do hour-long specials that make you think, and then she'll do a great interview with P. Diddy. She is versatile".

Vargas is particularly proud of a special that she did, where she questioned, why does the Laci Peterson case merit more attention than two other similar cases, where one of the women was black and the other hispanic. Another one of her stories created a religious debate. Her story was based on the book "The Da Vinci Code" and the role of Mary Magdalene. Vargas stated that for centuries Mary Magdalene has been portrayed as a prostitute by the church. In her story, she also questioned the role of women in general, within the church.

Some of Vargas' other one hour specials have included, "Same Sex Marriages", "Surrogacy" and "It Takes a Miracle".

The positions she holds are: Correspondent for "ABC News 20/20" (replacing Barbara Walters when she retired), Anchor "World News Tonight Saturday" and Co-anchor "Downtown" an ABC newsmagazine which debuted in 1999.

Elizabeth Vargas married Grammy singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, whom she met in the 1999 U.S. Open, after being introduced by Andre Agassi. In 2003, the couple had a daughter.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans