1991: Geneva Overholser

Geneva Overholser began reporting at the Colorado Springs Sun before freelancing from Africa and Europe for five years. She then joined the editorial page of the Des Moines Register, moved to The New York Times editorial staff, and returned to Des Moines as editor of the Register in 1988. Under her editorship, the paper won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service. She later worked as ombudsman at The Washington Post, and became a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group. Overholser joined the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 2000.