Jim Lehrer , the co-founder and longtime anchor of PBS NewsHour, died Thursday.

Judy Woodruff, the shows anchor and managing editor, revealed the news . Lehrer, 85, died peacefully in his sleep at home, she said in a statement on the PBS site.

Im heartbroken at the loss of someone who was central to my professional life, a mentor to me and someone whose friendship Ive cherished for decades, she said. Ive looked up to him as the standard for fair, probing and thoughtful journalism and I know countless others who feel the same way.