Nikole Hannah-Jones

Nikole Hannah-Jones is an investigative journalist chronicling the demise of racial integration efforts and persistence of segregation in American society, particularly in education. Hannah-Jones, who earned a master’s degree from the university in 2003 and a MacArthur fellowship in 2017, brought a backlash from conservative groups concerned about her involvement in The Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, which was named for the year that slavery began in the colonies that would become the United States. (Ms. Hannah-Jones won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her introductory essay.) Nikole Hannah-Jones received a B.A. (1998) from the University of Notre Dame and an M.A. (2003) from the University of North Carolina. She was a reporter for the Raleigh News and Observer (2003–2006), the Oregonian (2006–2011), and ProPublica (2011–2015) prior to joining the staff of the New York Times. In 2015, she co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting with the goal of increasing the number of reporters and editors of color. In late April 2021, the University of North Carolina announced that Ms. Hannah-Jones was being appointed to the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at U.N.C.’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. She will start as a professor in July, while continuing to write for The Times Magazine. Instead of tenure, Ms. Hannah-Jones was offered a five-year contract as a professor, with an option for review. In May 2021 she was denied a tenured position after the university’s board of trustees took the highly unusual step of failing to approve the journalism department’s recommendation.