Elizabeth Anne Vargas (born September 6, 1962) is an American television journalist who is anchor of ABC's television newsmagazine 20/20 and ABC News specials. She was previously an anchor of World News Tonight. On December 22, 2017, Vargas announced she is leaving ABC News in May 2018.
Vargas was born in Paterson, New Jersey, to a Puerto Rican father, Rafael "Ralf" Vargas, a colonel in the U.S. Army, and an Irish-American mother, Anne Vargas. She spent her youth moving from post to post in Germany and Belgium. Vargas graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, where she made her debut broadcast as a reporter/anchor for NBC affiliate KOMU-TV.
While working at WBBM-TV, an affiliate of CBS in Chicago, Illinois, Phyllis McGrady, a senior vice president at ABC, said of her: "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."