(Reuters) - The Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday named Daisy Veerasingham as its president and chief executive officer, succeeding Gary Pruitt, who will retire at the end of the year.

       A first-generation British national of Sri Lankan descent, Veerasingham, 51, is the first woman, first person of color and the first person outside the United States to lead the AP.

       She will be the fourteenth leader of the 175-year-old U.S. news agency and since February has been its executive vice president and chief operating officer, the AP said.

       She has been with the company for 17 years, leading it through the pandemic as its chief revenue officer.

       Pruitt has been the chief executive of the New-York based agency for the last 10 years.

       (Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)