2023 Hall of Achievement Inductee

Dawn Garcia, a 1981 graduate of the UO School of Journalism and Communication’s (SOJC) journalism program, is director of the John S. Knight (JSK) Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University. She was the first woman director of the program in its 50-year history when she started in 2016.

The JSK Fellowships empower diverse journalism leaders to succeed as effective change agents, sustain democratic communities, and defend press freedom around the world. Garcia helped transform the JSK Fellowships from a sabbatical model to a program that coaches and challenges fellows to become innovative leaders who can reinvent journalism.

She began her career as a reporter and editor at West Coast newspapers, including the San Jose Mercury News, where she led teams of 90 local and state news reporters and editors, and the San Francisco Chronicle, where she reported on politics, immigration, and legal affairs. In addition to her bachelor’s degree from the SOJC, she earned a master’s degree in liberal arts at Stanford in 2008, writing her dissertation on the evolution of Spanish-language media in California. She has taught journalism at Bay Area universities, including Stanford’s journalism program. She was a 1991–92 JSK Fellow, when she studied U.S.-Mexico relations.

Garcia is a lifelong journalist and experienced journalism fellowship leader with a devotion to excellence and a bias for action. She champions diversity in journalism with the goals of more accurate coverage and better representation of underserved communities.

She served four times as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism and has served on advisory boards of organizations defending First Amendment rights and promoting social justice as well as high-quality journalism training and education. She is a past president of the Journalism & Women Symposium, a national nonprofit organization that supports the professional empowerment and personal growth of women in journalism.

Her time as an SOJC student and a reporter for the Daily Emerald inspired Garcia to create a rewarding career in journalism leadership and innovation, a calling that energizes her every day.

Return to Hall of Achievement »