NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 40th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards in September, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced Monday.

Mitchell, who also serves as the host on MSNBC's weekday program “Andrea Mitchell Reports," has been in broadcast journalism for more than five decades.

“For more than 50 years, she has illuminated Americans’ understanding of domestic politics and international affairs, building esteem and trust with colleagues, world leaders, and most importantly, the viewers she informs," said Adam Sharp, president and CEO of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. "She is an icon."

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"Thanks to everybody at MSNBC and NBC," Mitchell said at the start of her MSNBC show Monday. "What a lifetime it is — and more to come."

The academy has awarded Lifetime Achievement awards to big names including CNN founder Ted Turner; former CNN host Larry King; former ABC anchor, reporter and host Barbara Walters Barbara Jill WaltersLongtime broadcaster Hugh Downs dies at 99 Respect your Elders — a call to action NBC's Andrea Mitchell to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at News & Documentary Emmys MORE; and former "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel.

Mitchell joined NBC News in 1978. She won the Freedom of the Press Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press earlier this year, and was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Washington Women in Journalism Awards this April.