HU VISITING PROFESSOR WINS PULITZER PRIZE

Hampton, VA - In his trends in pop culture journalism and opinion writing classes at Hampton University Leonard Pitts will probably be answering questions about the Pulitzer Prize he was awarded on April 5.

“Leonard Pitts is a remarkable talent, and he is a very important voice in American journalism," said Chris Campbell, director of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. "I’m not surprised he was selected for the Pulitzer."

Pitts, 2004 Scripps Howard Visiting Professional at Hampton University and syndicated columnist, has been awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Pitts won the prize for columns he wrote for the Miami Herald in 2003. The Pulitzers, which are awarded by Columbia University, are considered journalism's top honor.

Pitts’ students describe him as a great teacher and mentor.

"He has taught us how to formulate our opinions so that they have an impact on readers," said Janell Hazellwood, a senior print journalism major at Hampton University.

"The fact that Leonard Pitts is on our faculty is a reflection of the vision that the Scripps Howard Foundation and Hampton University had when they created the School of Journalism and Communications," Campbell said. "Our students are getting the benefit of the wisdom and experience of Professor Pitts as well as a number of other enormously talented professionals."

Pitts’ Miami Herald newspaper column on pop culture, social issues and family life is syndicated in more than 150 daily newspapers. He won the top prize for commentary at the Scripps Howard Foundation’s National Journalism Awards in 2002. Pitts was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1992.

He has worked for 15 years as a music writer before joining the Miami Herald as its pop music critic in 1991. Pitts began his column in 1994. In 1997, he published a book, "Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood."

Pitts’ column has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, among others. He is a three-time recipient of the National Headliners Award. In 2001, he received the American Society of Newspaper Editors prestigious ASNE Award for Commentary Writing and was named Columnist of the Year by Editor and Publisher magazine. In 2002, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists awarded Pitts its inaugural Columnist of the Year award. Also in 2002, GLAAD Media awarded Pitts the Outstanding Newspaper Columnist award.