Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes
Rhimes on the cover of Ms. in 2015
Born	Shonda Lynn Rhimes (1970-01-13) January 13, 1970 (age 47) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Alma mater	Dartmouth College USC School of Cinematic Arts
Occupation	Television producer, television writer, screenwriter
Years active	1995–present
Children	3

Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television producer, screenwriter and author. She is best known as the creator, head writer, executive producer, and showrunner of the television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, its spin-off Private Practice, and the political thriller series Scandal, all of which have aired on ABC. Rhimes has also served as the executive producer of the ABC television series Off the Map, How to Get Away with Murder, and The Catch.

In 2007, Rhimes was named one of Time magazine's 100 People Who Help Shape The World, and in 2015, she published a memoir, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person.

Rhimes was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Vera P. (Cain), a university administrator, and Ilee Rhimes, Jr., a college professor. Her mother attended college while raising six children and earned a PhD in educational administration in 1991; her father, who holds an MBA, was the chief information officer at the University of Southern California until 2013.

Rhimes lived in Park Forest South (now University Park, Illinois), with two older brothers and three older sisters. She has said she exhibited an early affinity for storytelling and that her time spent as a hospital volunteer while in high school sparked an interest in hospital environments.

Rhimes attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, before enrolling at Dartmouth College, where she majored in English and film studies and earned her bachelor's degree in 1991. At Dartmouth, she joined the Black Underground Theater Association and divided her time between directing and performing in student productions and fiction.