Chris Willis anchors News 36 Firstcast weekday mornings from 5-7 a.m. Chris joined the KXAN team in December 1999 after anchoring evenings at WDEF-TV, the CBS affiliate in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Chris says he's excited to be living in Austin, and looking foward to making Texas his home.

Originally from the Northwest, Chris grew up just outside of Olympia in Shelton, Washington and is a proud Cougar of Washington State University. He also has family in Hawaii and following graduation, Chris began his career at an NBC affiliate in Honolulu. Since then, he's worked at network affiliates in Washington, Montana, Arizona, Tennessee and now here in Austin, Texas.

Chris was honored by the Arizona Associated Press as News Anchor of the Year, and has also received awards for Live-Spot News, Investigative News, Breaking News and Best Newscast. He has covered some of the Nation's top news stories; from the Unabomber arrest in Lincoln, Montana to the Republican National Convention in San Diego, California to the recent flooding and devastation following Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina.

In his free time, Chris enjoys politics, sports and spending time with friends.

Send E-mail to Chris Willis.