Bennett and Kennedy have served on the Pulitzer Board since 2002. They replace Anders Gyllenhaal, executive editor of The Miami Herald, who recently completed his tenure as chair. Members of the Board serve a maximum of nine years while a chair serves for only one year.
VandeHei, a native of Oshkosh, Wis., is a regular political analyst on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and is a frequent guest on numerous cable and network television programs. He co-moderated two televised presidential debates during the 2008 campaign with MSNBC and CNN, including the first debate to incorporate questions voted on by a live online audience. He is also a public speaker, giving speeches and moderating debates and panel discussions on politics, new media and the future of journalism.
The Board will continue to monitor developments in digital journalism, Gissler said.
A member of the Board since 2001, Gyllenhaal replaces Richard Oppel, former editor of the Austin American-Statesman. Board members serve a maximum of nine years.
"This is an important step forward, reflecting our continued commitment to American newspapers as well as our willingness to adapt to the remarkable growth of online journalism," said Sig Gissler, administrator of the Prizes. "The new rules enlarge the Pulitzer tent and recognize more fully the role of the Web, while underscoring the enduring value of words and of serious reporting.”
Beck, as the prize-winning executive editor of the Argus Leader from 2001 to 2008, led his newspaper through numerous public service, investigative and First Amendment projects. Keven Ann Willey, a native of Washington, D.C., became vice president and editorial page editor of The Dallas Morning News in November 2002. Her editorial department’s successful four-year campaign to amend the state constitution to require legislators to publicly record their votes by name was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing.
Dehli, who was appointed vice president for news in 2006, leads strategic efforts to strengthen the company's print and online journalism. She also oversees journalism training, which includes the curriculum of Lee Online University, a companywide program she helped create.
In more than 30 years in journalism, Harris has worked as a reporter, editor, educator and corporate executive. Richard Oppel, a reporter and editor for 46 years, has led the newsrooms of the Tallahassee Democrat, Charlotte Observer and Austin American-Statesman.
With nearly 30 years of service with The Wall Street Journal, Gigot has been the paper's editorial page editor and vice president since September 2001. He is responsible for the newspaper's editorials, op-ed articles and Leisure & Arts criticism and directs the editorial pages of the Journal's Asian and European editions and the OpinionJournal.com Web site.
Byrd, a newspaper editor for 47 years, is currently writing a book about the Heppner, Oregon, flood of 1903. Pride, a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard, won the National Press Foundation's Editor of the Year Award in 1987 for directing the Monitor's coverage of the Challenger disaster and later won the Yankee Quill Award for contributions to New England journalism.