Mary Alice O’Rourke, a 29-year veteran of NBC News, is the Special Events producer of NBC News’ Today show, a position she has held since 1992. She plans and oversees all major trips the program makes to locations around the world, such as Today’s travels to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games and the “Today Goes to the Ends of the Earth” trip to Australia last November. 

 

O’Rourke plans and produces the show’s most popular series, “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?”  She also coordinates special news events.

 

From 1990 to 1992, O’Rourke was the Domestic Producer for NBC Nightly News, where she coordinated daily scripts and stories in the United States for each evenings broadcast. During that time, she oversaw the program’s visit to Pearl Harbor for the 50th anniversary of the bombing, covered the Gulf War, and also the reunification of Germany. She also served as a producer for the network’s Specials and Documentary unit.

 

O’Rourke began working on the Today show in 1980 as a researcher and then segment producer, working on daily news segments such as the Beirut barracks bombing, Election coverage and political conventions. She produced stories for trips to Brazil, London, Indonesia, and major cities in the U.S. In 1986, she was appointed European producer for Today based in London. From there, she covered a wide variety of news stories in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania and China.

 

A native New Yorker, O’Rourke graduated from St. John’s University and received a master’s degree from Hunter College in New York.

Her father was born in Co. Leitrim, and her maternal grandparents came to the United States from Ireland.