Jorge Ramos, a former top news anchor for media giant Univision, is leaving the network after nearly 40 years in the anchor chair. He is known for tough interviews that helped push issues of interest to Latin Americans to the top of the U.S. political agenda.

Often referred to as the “Walter Cronkite of Latino America”, Ramos has interviewed world leaders and covered major international events for nearly three decades, bringing them to millions of Hispanic viewers in the United States and 13 Latin American countries.

A native of Mexico who came to the United States as a young journalist, Ramos has been an anchor of Univision’s award-winning evening newscast, “Noticiero Univision”, since 1986. He became a U.S. citizen in 2008. Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In an article last January, The New York Times called him “the voice of Latino voters.”

In addition to his nightly newscasts for Univision and his English-language offshoot, Fusion, Ramos anchors a Sunday news analysis show, “Al Punto” (To the Point). He also writes a weekly column that is distributed by The New York Times Syndicate to more than 40 newspapers in the United States and Latin America.

He is the author of 11 books and provides commentary for three daily radio shows for the Univision Radio network. He has been instrumental in promoting literacy among Latinos. In 2002, he created “Despierta Leyendo” (Wake Up Reading), the first book club in the history of Hispanic television.

Ramos holds a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Miami and a bachelor’s degree in communication from Ibero-American University in Mexico City. He also completed a post-graduate course in broadcast journalism at the University of California at Los Angeles. In 2007, the University of Richmond awarded him an honorary doctor of letters degree.