UK Alumna Named Administrator of Pulitzer Prizes

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 19, 2017) — University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media alumna Dana Canedy, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning former senior editor at The New York Times, will oversee journalism's most prestigious awards program.

The Pulitzer Prize Board and Lee C. Bollinger, president of Columbia University, named Canedy as the new administrator last week. Her appointment began Monday, July 17.

“It is an enormous honor to be chosen as the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes,” Canedy said in a news release. “As a journalist and author for more than 25 years, I have tremendous respect for the importance of the prizes in promoting the best in American journalism and arts and letters. In an era of warp-speed digital and social change in journalism and unsettling assaults on a free and independent press, the role of the Pulitzer Prizes is more vital than ever.”

Canedy was a special projects reporter and editor at The New York Times, where she won a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting on the series “How Race Is Lived in America." She also served as Florida bureau chief, covering the 2000 presidential election recount and the flight-school training of the 9/11 terrorists. She oversaw national breaking news coverage for The Times for four years and until recently led talent acquisition, management training, career development and diversity initiatives.

She is also the author of "A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor," a memoir based on her partner's journal for their unborn child. Her partner, First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, was killed in combat during the first Iraq war. Canedy's memoir has been published in 10 countries in eight languages and has been optioned for a movie by Columbia Pictures and Denzel Washington, according to the release.

“For more than a century, Columbia's administration of the Pulitzer Prizes has signified our enduring commitment to both courageous journalism in the public interest and the highest achievement in American arts and letters,” said Bollinger, who is also a Pulitzer Board member. “There's no one who better reflects that commitment than Dana Canedy, a Pulitzer Prize-winner herself whose insightful writing and respected editing have set a consistent standard of journalistic excellence. We look forward to welcoming her to our campus and to the Pulitzers.”

Canedy was born in Indianapolis and grew up near Fort Knox, Kentucky. She graduated from what is now the UK College of Communication and Information in 1988.

"This appointment shows the respect and trust her journalism colleagues and the Pulitzer board have in Dana," said Mike Farrell, interim director of the UK School of Journalism and Media. "The Pulitzers are journalism's Oscars, and their integrity while journalism is attacked viciously and irresponsibly could not be more important. Dana's administration will protect that reputation. We are proud of Dana and proud to say she is one of our graduates."

Canedy succeeds Mike Pride, who will retire after three years as administrator.