Newswise — The Northeastern University School of Journalism announced that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Walter V. Robinson will join its faculty in January 2007 as Distinguished Professor of Journalism. A 34-year veteran journalist, Robinson is perhaps best known for directing The Boston Globe's Spotlight Team investigation of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, for which the newspaper received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003.
Robinson is a graduate of Northeastern University. He began working at The Boston Globe as a Northeastern co-op student and joined the paper immediately upon graduation in 1974. Northeastern's flagship cooperative education program allows students to alternate classroom studies with full-time paid work experience.
"Walter Robinson brings a wealth of experience to our program as one of the nation's leading journalists," said Stephen D. Burgard, director of Northeastern University's School of Journalism. "This will benefit all of our students, and be of special interest to graduate students and select undergraduates interested in learning investigative reporting techniques from one of the industry masters."
Burgard said Robinson will establish an investigative reporting course targeted at mid-career journalists, as well as teach graduate and undergraduate courses. Robinson will also remain as a consultant with The Boston Globe.
Robinson was awarded an honorary Doctor of Journalism from Northeastern in 2005. He also holds an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Emerson College and was a Journalism Fellow at Stanford University.
During his three decades as a journalist, Robinson has reported stories from 48 states and 30 foreign countries. He has served as city editor and as assistant managing editor for local news, and is currently assistant managing editor/investigations. His career includes stints as The Boston Globe's Boston City Hall Bureau Chief and Massachusetts State House Bureau Chief. He also served as a Washington Bureau reporter where he covered the White House under the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.
Internationally, Robinson served as The Boston Globe's Middle East Bureau Chief during the Persian Gulf Crisis and the first Persian Gulf War. As a national and foreign correspondent, he would later report on the art world's complicity in the Nazi art plunder during World War II, and the illicit trade of antiques between Europe and the United States, for which he received the Archaeological Institute of America's first-ever outstanding public service award in 1999.
The Boston Globe's renowned Spotlight Team, under Robinson's leadership since 1999, has conducted investigative reports uncovering municipal corruption, abuses in the stewardship of private charitable foundations, and most recently the unfair practices of debt collection in its series "Debtors' Hell."
Robinson expressed enthusiasm about returning to Northeastern. "Northeastern's co-op program provided me with the journalistic skills - as well as the boost I needed - to win a spot on the staff of The Boston Globe where I have had the extraordinary good fortune to work with some of the best reporters and editors in the country," Robinson said. "Now it's time for me to complete the loop, to join Northeastern's terrific journalism faculty in the hope I can help some of its students realize the same opportunities I have had."
A native of Melrose, Massachusetts, Robinson interrupted his education at Northeastern to spend four years in the U.S. Army, including a tour in Vietnam as an intelligence officer with the First Cavalry Division. After returning to Northeastern to finish his education, he taught journalism part-time at his alma mater from 1974 to 1976.
About Northeastern: Northeastern University, located in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, is a world leader in practice-oriented education and recognized for its expert faculty and first-rate academic and research facilities. Northeastern integrates challenging liberal arts and professional studies with the nation's largest cooperative education program. Through co-op, Northeastern undergraduates alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, giving them nearly two years of professional experience upon graduation. The majority of Northeastern graduates receive a job offer from a co-op employer. Cited for excellence four years running by U.S. News & World Report, Northeastern has quickly moved up into the top tier rankings-an impressive 35 spots in four years. In addition, Northeastern was named a top college in the 2006 edition of the Princeton Review's annual "Best Colleges" issue. For more information, please visit http://www.northeastern.edu.
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