Cecilia Alvear

Cecilia Alvear (November 5, 1939 – April 21, 2017) was an Ecuadorian-born American journalist in television news and the former president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, as well as a field producer with NBC Network News in Burbank, California.

Early career Alvear was the network's Mexico City Bureau Chief from 1982 until 1984, the first Latina to serve in that position, when she was transferred to Miami to serve as the senior producer for Latin America. In 1989 she was assigned to the West Coast.

As a producer Alvear covered many major news stories, including the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua in the 1980s, the Mexico City earthquake in 1985, protests and elections in Chile and Peru, the war on drugs in Bolivia, Peru and Colombia, the Mengele investigation in Brazil, unrest in Panama, two interviews with Fidel Castro in Cuba, one of the first organizations for Latino journalists. She was honored for her pioneering efforts on behalf of CCNMA at their 1996 Scholarship dinner.

Alvear was a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists since the 1980s. She participated in the annual convention as a panelist, speaker and recruiter for NBC News. Alvear was elected vice president-Broadcast in 1996 and represented NAHJ on the board of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. In 2000, she was elected to a two-year term as president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. That same year, she was named on the Hispanic Business list of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics in the U.S." In 1995 and 1996, Alvear was Editor at Large of Si, a short-lived magazine depicting the Latino experience in the U.S.

Awards In 1988, Alvear was one of twelve American journalists chosen for the prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University where she spent the academic year 1988–89. Alvear was the first Latina to receive the award.