Jennifer Anne "Jenna" Lee (born ) is an American journalist and former anchor on

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

, where she co-hosted '' Happening Now'' with Jon Scott. Lee had previously co-anchored

Fox Business Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American conservative business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios ...

' early-morning business news program, ''Fox Business Morning'', with Connell McShane.

Early life and education

Lee, a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

native, was born to Janice and Bob Lee, a former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

quarterback. Her brother, Zac Lee, was also a professional quarterback. Lee's grandfather, Paul Kern Lee, was a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

in San Francisco. Lee attended college at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, where she played collegiate softball for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos during the 1999 season. She graduated in 2002 with a B.A. in English and global studies. She later attended

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

, graduating in 2005 with a master's degree.

Career

Career beginnings

After graduating from UC Santa Barbara, Lee worked from 2002 to 2004 at ''Marina Times'', a San Francisco community newspaper, as a freelance reporter in her spare time. Later, she enrolled at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where she worked at NY1 and did freelance writing for Forbes.com. She left NY1 and joined Forbes full-time. While at Forbes, Lee tried to orchestrate a permanent move in front of the camera. Using some on-camera work she compiled from her time at Forbes, she was hired by Fox Business Network.

Fox Business Network

Lee was hired by FOX News Chairman & CEO

Roger Ailes Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republic ...

in 2007. With Nicole Petallides, the duo were the original anchors of ''Fox Business Morning'' on Fox Business Network when the channel made its debut on October 15, 2007. FOX later added Lee as a contributor to ''Money for Breakfast'' and as an anchor to the web-only ''FoxBusiness.com Live Morning Edition'', which launched in February 2009. Upon the cancellation of ''Money for Breakfast'' in December 2009, Lee gained a role on '' Imus in the Morning'', the show that took its time slot. The last airing of ''Fox Business Morning'' was in May 2010, after which it was replaced by ''Best of Imus'' as the lead-in to ''Imus in the Morning''.

Transition to Fox News Channel

Lee left Fox Business Network in July 2010 and joined Fox News Channel, where she replaced Jane Skinner as Jon Scott's co-anchor on '' Happening Now''. She was the first personality to go from Fox Business Network to Fox News Channel. On June 2, 2017, Lee announced on '' Happening Now'' that she was leaving Fox News immediately to pursue other projects and opportunities. In 2018, Lee launched the SmartHer News, which she described as a "fact based, nonpartisan" digital news platform.

Personal life

On July 3, 2011, Lee married Lieutenant Commander Leif Babin, a former

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

officer, in Wimberley, Texas. Babin, a recipient of a

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

, a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, and a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

for service in Anbar Province, Iraq, in 2006, is the son of US Congressman

Brian Babin Brian Philip Babin ( ; born March 23, 1948) is an American dentist, politician and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 2015 ...

. The couple met at the 2008 Navy SEAL Warrior Fund dinner held in New York City at the

Waldorf Astoria New York The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story, Art Deco landmark des ...

. She has stated that after meeting Babin she gained a better understanding of life for military families and the impact of war. Lee and Babin have three children. Through social media she announced she now lives in Texas. Lee appeared in the October 2009 edition of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' with an accompanying photo spread detailing her wardrobe strategy.

References

External links

Fox News biography
* * *
AskMen biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jenna Living people Journalists from California Fox Business people Television anchors from San Francisco UC Santa Barbara Gauchos softball players Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Fox News people American women television journalists Year of birth missing (living people)