Hank Phillippi Ryan changes laws and changes lives. She's recovered millions of dollars for scammed consumers, saved dozens of homes from foreclosure, sent wrong-doers to prison and forced state officials to resign. She is widely regarded as one of the most hard-hitting, informative investigative reporters in the region, having won numerous awards for her work. Her leading-edge consumer and investigative reports, "Hank Investigates," have become not only widely acclaimed, but also viewers' favorites.

Hank is a highly prized reporter with more than 50 prestigious awards from news organizations all over the world, including 26 Emmy awards. Most recently, she won an Emmy for her investigative and consumer reporting, including an exposé of the failures of the state's 911 emergency system, and a hidden camera investigation revealing widespread deceptive pricing. She also won a recent Edward R. Murrow Award, her 10th, for her investigative series "Cause for Alarm," which revealed extensive staffing and equipment dangers in fire departments across Massachusetts. "Cause for Alarm" was also honored in world-wide competition with the first place award from the International Firefighters Association. After breaking a highly acclaimed investigative series exposing unregulated home improvement contractors, who ripped off home owners in three of Boston's poorest neighborhoods, three new laws were passed.

Before joining 7NEWS in 1982, Hank was a reporter and anchor at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, she also worked at WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, Indiana and on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant to a subcommittee of the US Senate Judiciary Committee. Hank also covered Washington D.C. as an editorial assistant at Rolling Stone Magazine. She wrote and edited a column called "Capitol Chatter" an inside look at D.C. politics. She also helped organize the presidential campaign coverage for Hunter S. Thompson. Hank grew up in the Indianapolis area, attended Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, and studied abroad at the International School in Hamburg, Germany.

She is also a best-selling mystery author, winning the prestigious AGATHA Award for Best First Novel with her debut PRIME TIME. Three more books in her highly regarded series will be published in 2009 and 2010.

Hank resides in a Boston suburb with her husband.

Profile

What are you listening to right now?
Jason Mraz
Carmina Burana
Puccini arias
Ella Sings Ellington

What's on your DVR?
The Wire
Damages

What are your favorite films?
The Lives of Others
Lawrence of Arabia
The Insider
Desk Set
The Philadelphia Story
Minority Report
Brazil
To Kill a Mockingbird
(secret treats: Bring It On and Working Girl)

What are your favorite books?
Mysteries and thrillers by Alex Berenson
Lee Child
John Lescroart
Julia Spencer Fleming
Sue Grafton

If you could interview anyone in history, who would it be?
Napoleon
Elizabeth I
Shakespeare

What are your favorite cities in the world?
Boston
Paris
Florence

What are your favorite foods?
Avocados
Red wine
Peanut butter
Cheese
Pizza

What is always in your refrigerator you cannot live without?
Avocados
Red wine
Peanut butter
Cheese

What is one thing you still dream to do?
Have my books on the New York Times best-seller list.

What is one thing about you most people would be surprised by?
I'm an award-winning and best-selling author of mysteries about a Boston TV reporter!