New York, NY (May 19, 2026) — Nicole Carroll, executive director of NEWSWELL and professor of practice at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, has been elected as chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
Carroll and Boston Globe editor Nancy Barnes served as co-chairs last year.
NEWSWELL is a growing network of nonprofit newsrooms based at ASU. Under Carroll’s leadership, the organization has grown to 15 news sites focused on delivering local news and information, while NEWSWELL provides journalism support, business services and innovative tools and strategies that can redefine a thriving business model for local news.
An alumna of the Cronkite School and an inductee to its Hall of Fame, Carroll partners closely with the Cronkite School and other university units to strengthen reporting on local communities, harness the talent of students and faculty and find solutions to sustain local news.
Prior to joining ASU, Carroll served as editor-in-chief of USA Today for five years. Previously, she served as the top editor of The Arizona Republic, where she spent nearly 20 years and led a project on the proposed U.S. border wall that won a 2018 Pulitzer Prize. In addition, she led breaking news coverage recognized as Pulitzer Prize finalists in 2012 and 2014.
“I’ve always believed that the most meaningful work we do in journalism is rooted in service – service to our communities and to the truth,” Carroll said. “Leading the Pulitzer Board continues that service to a profession that has meant so much to me and has been so critical to our society.”
Carroll has been a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board for eight years and, before that, was a three-time juror of the prestigious journalism prize.
The Pulitzer Prizes, which are administered at Columbia University, were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon his death in 1911. A portion of his bequest was used to found the School of Journalism in 1912 and establish the Pulitzer Prizes, which were first awarded in 1917.
The 19-member board is composed mainly of leading journalists or news executives from media outlets across the U.S., as well as five academics or persons in the arts. The dean of Columbia's journalism school and the administrator of the prizes are nonvoting members. The chair rotates to the most senior member or members. The board is self-perpetuating in the election of members. Voting members may serve three terms of three years for a total of nine years.