Pederson, Rena

Named one of the most powerful women in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine, Rena Pederson has held senior posts at the Dallas Morning News since 1973. As editor at large since 2002, she writes a weekly column for the paper's Sunday Reader section as well as profiles and enterprise feature stories. She previously served as a vice president and editorial page editor, supervising the staff and content of the opinion pages for 16 years. Under her leadership, the editorial team was named a finalist for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing.

After completing a bachelor's degree in journalism with honors from the University of Texas at Austin, she went on to graduate from Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism in 1970.

Pederson's editorial writing has earned awards from United Press International and the Associated Press Managing Editors association. She has also written two books: What's Next? Women Redefining Their Dreams in the Prime of Life (2001) and most recently, What's Missing? The Faith Factor for Women (2003), which profiles well-known contemporary American women including Laura Bush, Diane Sawyer, Peggy Noonan and Judy Collins.

Currently, Pederson chairs the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of the Dallas Historical Society and the Dallas Museum of Natural History, among others. A member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, she is also a past president of the National Conference of Editorial Writers.