Chris Bury was born on December 10, 1953, and grew up on Chicago’s South Side. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and later completed a Master of Arts in political science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Bury began his broadcasting career in 1975 as a reporter for WCLX Radio in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He steadily worked his way through local TV stations in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Houston before joining ABC News in 1982.

At ABC, he worked as a correspondent, covering everything from presidential politics to international crises. He then joined Nightline in Washington, D.C., in January 1993 — becoming the program’s principal substitute anchor. Over the following years, he reported from war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, covered the Clinton impeachment, and contributed to award-winning special reports. He left ABC in 2012 after more than 30 years.

After ABC, Bury contributed to PBS NewsHour, reported for Al Jazeera America’s America Tonight, and hosted a public affairs program on WYCC-TV in Chicago. In addition, he co-founded Burcat Media Group with his wife, Catherine Catalane. He currently serves as a senior journalist-in-residence at DePaul University’s College of Communication in Chicago.