Jackie Nespral, A.B. ’89, has a bear of a commute. Not because it’s nearly an hour from her Coral Gables home to the NBC6 studios in Miramar, but because she travels the route four times a day. Following her 5 and 6 p.m. news broadcasts, the mother of four (spanning ages 2 to 19) heads home to dine with her family. She’s back at the anchor’s desk by 11 p.m. and ultimately concludes her day when most of us are in our third round of REM.

“My children are in school all day, so if I didn’t drive home to be with them, I couldn’t handle it,” Nespral says. “When I’m home, I wear my mommy hat.”

Other hats that Nespral wears are that of wife, married to anesthesiologist Armando Hassun Jr., B.S. ’85; philanthropist, on the boards of organizations like Amigos for Kids and the March of Dimes; and now president of the UM Alumni Association.

“The day I was accepted to UM, the day I graduated, the day I was inducted into Iron Arrow, and now as UMAA president—these are high points in my life,” says Nespral, raised in Miami by Cuban-born parents. “I want to help spread the positive word of the University because I think it is a great story.”

If anyone knows a great story, it’s the Emmy-winning Nespral. Hired by NBC’s Weekend Today show in New York City at the age of 26, she became the nation’s youngest and the first Hispanic network news anchor. That was another rough commute—every week from Miami to New York for nearly three years with a toddler in tow.

“On any given day I would be interviewing the president of Ireland or the prime minister of Israel. I had to be aware of all of the issues facing the world all of the time,” Nespral says, admitting that at first she thought she was in over her head. “By the time I left, I thought I could handle anything.”

Being in the public eye was always natural for Nespral. Her mother secretly entered her into the 1986 Orange Bowl Festival Queen competition, and the charismatic UM psychology major (who aspired to be a marriage counselor at the time) took the crown. Nespral’s yearlong reign included appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and a Bob Hope special.

A broadcaster for the Spanish-language network Univisión spotted Nespral on the parade circuit that year and prompted her to audition for the variety/game show Sábado Gigante. That role, which she held while completing her UM degree, led to anchor spots at Noticias y Mas and Television Martí, the springboards for Weekend Today.

In her current post at NBC6 for the past 12 years, Nespral says that local news has kept her interest. She cites her coverage of the Pope in Cuba as one of her more memorable assignments, but she is inspired daily by the ability to make a difference in people’s lives.

In her own life, Nespral has nailed the often-elusive balance between work and home. She gives credit to her supportive husband (whom she met when she was 14), and her innate vigor. “I have been blessed with so much energy,” she says. “If I had eight or nine hours of sleep a night, I’d probably be lethargic!”