Richard Engel was named NBC News' chief foreign correspondent today, effective immediately. Engel previously served as NBC News' senior Middle East correspondent and Beirut bureau chief since May 2006.

Engel has covered the entire war in Iraq since joining NBC News in May 2003. Before coming to the network, he freelanced for ABC News.

Engel recently received the 2008 Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia University award and the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism.

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Richard Engel has been named NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent. The announcement was made today by NBC News President Steve Capus and is effective immediately. Engel, one of the foremost journalists reporting in the Middle East, will expand his role and continue to report for all platforms of NBC News, including "NBC Nightly News," "Today," and MSNBC and msnbc.com.

"There aren't enough superlatives to describe the work that Richard has done in some of the most dangerous places on Earth for NBC News," said Capus. "His reporting, his expertise on the situation in the Middle East, his professionalism and his commitment to telling the story of what is happening there is unparalleled. Not only is this a well-deserved promotion for him, but it having him in this position makes us a better news organization."

Previously, Engel served as NBC News' Senior Middle East Correspondent and Beirut Bureau Chief since May 2006. Engel, one of the only western journalists to cover the entire war in Iraq, joined NBC News in May 2003.

Engel reported as a freelance journalist for ABC News during the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq and was NBC News' lead Iraq correspondent from 2003 until his appointment to Beirut Bureau Chief in May 2006. He covered the war between Israel and Hezbollah during the summer of 2006 from Beirut and southern Lebanon. Engel continues to cover the ongoing war in Iraq as well as other assignments throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Prior to working for ABC News, Engel served as the Middle East correspondent for "The World," a joint production of BBC World Service, Public Radio International (PRI) and WGBH-Boston radio from 2001-2003. He has also written for USA Today, Reuters, AFP and Jane's Defense Weekly, a British publication in which he authored the magazine's in-depth profiles of Egypt, Yemen and al-Qaida.

A celebrated journalist, Engel received the 2008 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University award and the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism, the first ever given to a broadcast journalist, for his report "War Zone Diary." The one-hour documentary, compiled from Engel's personal video journal, gave a rare and intimate account of the everyday realties of covering the war in Iraq. In 2006, Engel was honored with an Emmy and the Edward R. Murrow award for his report "Baghdad E.R.," the first ever to win in the category "Feature – Hard News."

Engel has lived in the Middle East for more than ten years. He speaks and reads fluent Arabic, which he learned while living in the slums of Cairo after graduating from Stanford University in 1996 with a B.A. in International Relations. Engel has also traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and can comfortably transition between several of the Arabic dialects spoken across the Arab world. He is also fluent in Italian and Spanish.