The Gary G. Fryer Memorial Lecture
About Riz Khan
Riz Khan is a recognised face worldwide following extensive careers with the BBC and CNN prior to joining Al Jazeera English.
He was a presenter and reporter at the BBC for eight years and was the first mainstream Asian newsreader for their international network.
He hosted the news bulletin that launched BBC World Service Television News in 1991.
After presenting there for two years he was poached by CNN for their own international channel where he became a senior anchor for the network’s global news shows and special events including the historic live coverage of the Hajj.
In 1996 he launched his interactive interview show on CNN: Q&A with Riz Khan and he has conducted thousands of interviews with guests including the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, to name a few.
Born in 1962 in South Yemen, Riz and his family moved to London when he was four. He attended the University of Wales where he gained an honours degree in Medical Physiology.
He took a course in radio journalism in Portsmouth and joined the BBC News Trainee scheme in 1987.
In 2005 he authored his first book: Al-Waleed: Businessman Billionaire Prince, published by Harper Collins.