Maria Shriver

Maria Owings Shriver, born November 6, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, is an American journalist, author, and former First Lady of California. She is the daughter of politician Sargent Shriver and activist Eunice Kennedy, making her a member of the Shriver and Kennedy families. Raised Roman Catholic and of mostly Irish and German descent, she spent her middle school years in Paris before graduating from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland. She attended Manhattanville College for two years and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American studies from Georgetown University in 1977.

Shriver began her broadcasting career at KYW-TV in Philadelphia. She co-anchored The CBS Morning News before joining NBC News in 1986, where she co-anchored Sunday Today and served as an anchor and contributor for NBC Nightly News. From 1992 to 2004, she was a contributing anchor for Dateline NBC. She stepped away from reporting in 2004 to focus on her role as First Lady of California after her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, took office as governor, later returning to NBC News in 2013 as a special anchor. For her journalism, she earned a Peabody Award in 1998 and co-anchored NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics.

During her tenure as First Lady of California, Shriver directed several major civic initiatives. She led the California Governor & First Lady's Conference on Women, expanding it into a prominent national forum. In 2004, she established the Minerva Awards to recognize California women impacting their communities. She launched the WE Connect program to assist families in need, WE Prepare for emergency readiness, WE Invest to support female entrepreneurs, and the WE Include program to promote hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities. She also co-chaired The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts, where she created the California Hall of Fame in 2006.

Following her father's Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in 2003, Shriver became a dedicated advocate for patient care and research, later founding the non-profit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She served as executive producer of HBO's four-part documentary series The Alzheimer's Project (2009), which earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences award. A advocate for people with intellectual disabilities, she serves on the International Board of Special Olympics and the advisory board of Best Buddies. In 2008, she co-founded the ice cream business Lovin' Scoopful, which donates 25 percent of its proceeds to the Special Olympics.

Shriver is also a author and publisher. She published the children's book Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? and the 2016 coloring book Color Your Mind. Her 2018 book, I've Been Thinking...: Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life, became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller and was followed by a companion journal in 2019. In addition, she spearheaded The Shriver Report series, producing studies on women in the workforce, Alzheimer's disease, and poverty.

Shriver was married to actor and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, with whom she has four children, before separating in 2011 and divorcing in 2021. Her other media production credits include executive producing the 2008 PBS documentary American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver and co-executive producing the 2018 documentary Take Your Pills.