Columbia University announced April 29 that Wallis Annenberg Chair in Journalism and Democracy holder Jay Harris was appointed the new co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board.

Harris, founding director USC Annenberg's Center for the Study of Journalism and Democracy and former San Jose Mercury News publisher, joins co-chair Richard Oppel, editor of the Austin American-Statesman.

Both Harris and Oppel have served on the Pulitzer Board since 2000. As the new co-chairs, they replace Joann Byrd, former editorial page editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and Mike Pride, editor of the Concord Monitor (N.H.). Members of the Board serve a maximum of nine years while a chair serves for only one year.

In more than 30 years in journalism, Harris has worked as a reporter, editor, educator and corporate executive. Appointed publisher of the San Jose Mercury News in 1994, Harris emphasized more complete coverage of community life, increased the quality and quantity of news about Silicon Valley business and high technology, and launched weekly Spanish and Vietnamese-language newspapers.

After beginning his career as a reporter and editor at the Wilmington News-Journal of Delaware, Harris joined the faculty of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, where he also served as assistant dean. While at Medill, he designed and launched the American Society of Newspaper Editors' annual national census of minority employment in daily newspapers, which remains the industry benchmark to this day.

He worked as a national correspondent and columnist for the Gannett News Service and was executive editor of the Philadelphia Daily News before moving to Knight Ridder's corporate staff, where he served as assistant to the president of the Newspaper Division and, later, vice president of operations, where he was responsible for the business operations of nine of the company's newspapers.

Harris has been recognized with awards from numerous universities, nonprofit and social justice organizations, and national journalism and journalism education organizations, including honorary doctorates from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, his alma mater, and Santa Clara University in California.

More on Harris
Editor & Publisher article
Wall Street Journal article
Pulitzer Prize