Sewell Chan of The Texas Tribune joins Pulitzer Board

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Sewell Chan, editor in chief of The Texas Tribune, has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board, Columbia University announced.

Chan, 45, joined The Texas Tribune as its editor in chief in October 2021. Under his leadership, the nonprofit newsroom was awarded an Edward R. Murrow Award for general excellence among large digital news organizations and an Online Journalism Award for breaking news coverage of the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde.

“With his broad interests and sharp mind, Sewell will be an excellent addition to the Board,” said Tommie Shelby, Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies and Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University, and co-chair of the board along with Neil Brown, president of The Poynter Institute.

Previously, Chan was a deputy managing editor and then the editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times, where he oversaw work by Robert Greene on criminal justice reform that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing in 2021. Chan was also the lead author of an editorial reckoning with the newspaper’s failures on race, which the Society of Professional Journalists recognized with a special citation.

“The Pulitzer Prizes recognize journalism that informs our democracy and books, music and plays that nourish the human spirit,” Chan said. “I am deeply honored and humbled to join the Board in service of that mission, which is more vital than ever.”

Chan worked at The New York Times from 2004 to 2018, as a metro reporter, Washington correspondent, deputy Op-Ed editor and international news editor. He was the founding bureau chief of The Times' local news blog.

Chan began his career as a local reporter at The Washington Post in 2000, where he covered city government, social services and public education.

A native of New York City, a child of immigrants, and the first in his family to graduate from college, Chan graduated from Harvard with a degree in social studies in 1998 and received a master’s in political science from Oxford, where he studied on a British Marshall Scholarship, in 2000. He is a graduate of the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership at the CUNY Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. He is a member of PEN America, the Council on Foreign Relations and numerous journalism organizations. He also serves on the boards of Freedom House, the Columbia Journalism Review and the News Leaders Association.

Chan was a Pulitzer Prize juror in 2020 (Local Reporting) and jury chair in 2021 (International Reporting). He has also served as a judge for the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting and the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. An avid reader and museum-goer, he lives in Austin and enjoys photography and travel.

“Sewell’s energy, intellect and record of distinguished work will help the Pulitzer Board fulfill its mission of setting standards of excellence for journalism, arts and letters,” said co-chair Brown.

About The Pulitzer Prizes:

The Pulitzer Prizes, which are administered at Columbia University, were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon his death in 1911. A portion of his bequest was used to found the School of Journalism in 1912 and establish the Pulitzer Prizes, which were first awarded in 1917.

The 19-member board is composed mainly of leading journalists or news executives from media outlets across the U.S., as well as five academics or persons in the arts. The dean of Columbia's journalism school and the administrator of the prizes are nonvoting members. The chair rotates to the most senior member or members. The board is self-perpetuating in the election of members. Voting members may serve three terms of three years for a total of nine years.

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