Hoda Kotb leaving 'Today' show: Here’s a look at her Oklahoma roots

Hoda Kotb is saying goodbye to the "Today" show .

While Kotb is a current New Yorker and the product of growing up in Virginia, her origins go back to Oklahoma.

Kotb's parents were Egyptian immigrants who left Cairo to study at the University of Oklahoma. Soon after, Kotb was born in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1964.

According to Biography.com, Kotb began her career in 1986 at a CBS news station in Cairo, Egypt. Before working for Dateline NBC in 1998, the Norman native worked in Mississippi, Illinois, Florida and Louisiana.

Why is Hoda leaving?

After 26 years of working with NBC, Kotb announced on Thursday morning's broadcast that she began thinking about the decade ahead after turning 60 last month.

"I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new," she said, adding, "This is the right time for me to move on."

Kotb also said that her children deserve a "bigger piece of my time pie." She plans to leave "Today" in early 2025.

Hoda Kotb's career

Kotb has worked with NBC News since 1998, originally as a "Dateline" correspondent, and has served as co-anchor of the "Today" show with Savannah Guthrie since 2018. She assumed the co-anchor role opposite Guthrie after Matt Lauer was fired in 2017 over alleged sexual misconduct. Kotb has also hosted the "Today" show's fourth hour since 2007, most recently with Jenna Bush Hager .

Kotb shared she realized it was time to leave during a celebration of her 60th birthday on the show last month, as she recalled thinking, "This is what the top of the wave feels like for me, and I thought, 'It can't get better.'"

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In a letter to "Today" staff shared on Today.com , Kotb said she will stay with the "NBC family" after leaving the show, though she did not specify what he role will be going forward.

"Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I've been lucky enough to hold close to my heart," she said. "I'll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine."

Telling her colleagues at the show that "you don't leave family," Kotb promised during her on-air announcement, "I'm going to be haunting you in your lives for a long, long time."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Hoda Kotb leaving 'Today' show: Here’s a look at her Oklahoma roots