Hall of Fame Welcomes 15 Trailblazing Journalism Alumni

The University of Arizona School of Journalism is proud to announce that 15 esteemed alumni will be inducted this fall into its Hall of Fame for their outstanding contributions to the field of journalism and service to society.

“This year’s Hall of Fame inductees represent the very best of what our School of Journalism aspires to instill — a commitment to truth, public service and courageous storytelling,” Director Jessica Retis said. “Their work has informed, inspired and, in many cases, helped change the world. We are proud to honor their legacy and impact.”

The inductees will be honored at a celebratory brunch and induction ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Center for Creative Photography. Tickets for the event will become available later this summer.

Meet the 2025 Hall of Fame honorees, a group that includes newsroom leaders, international correspondents, public radio pioneers and Pulitzer Prize winners who began their journeys at the School of Journalism:

Ford Burkhart, Class of 1963

Ford Burkhart, professor emeritus at the School of Journalism, started his reporting career at the Arizona Daily Wildcat before taking on roles post-college at the Miami Herald and the Associated Press, where he reported from China. He later spent two decades teaching journalism at the University of Arizona and developed professional journalism programs across Africa and Asia, supported by organizations such as the Fulbright Program, the Asia Foundation and the U.S. Information Agency. In 1996, he began working as an editor and writer at The New York Times, where he contributed to Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of 9/11, including the "Portraits of Grief" series that profiled each victim of the terrorist attacks. He was inducted into the Daily Wildcat Hall of Fame in 2008 and now works as a freelance science writer in Tucson.

Susan Carroll, Class of 1999 

Susan Carroll, a senior editor at NBC News before her death in May 2024, was an award-winning investigative journalist known for her tenacity and impact. She built a distinguished career at the Houston Chronicle, where she exposed systemic failures that led to state education policy changes and served as the senior investigations editor, leading her team to a Pulitzer Prize nomination for its coverage of Hurricane Harvey. Over the course of her career, she also worked in the newsrooms of the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the Tucson Citizen, the Arizona Republic and ProPublica. She was also a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE), and a year after her death, friends and former colleagues launched a fundraising effort to establish an IRE fellowship in her name. She is survived by her sons, Ollie and Owen, and her parents, Gene and Mimi Carroll. 

Michael A. Chihak, Class of 1971

Michael Chihak is a veteran journalist whose career spans more than 45 years in print and broadcast media. A Tucson native, he worked for the Tucson Citizen as a reporter, editor and publisher, and held roles at the Salinas Californian, USA Today and the Associated Press. He later served as news director for Arizona Public Media, where he launched and hosted the public affairs show “Arizona Week” on KUAT-TV. Chihak retired in 2017 and has chaired the University of Arizona School of Journalism Advisory Council since 2022. He was inducted into the Daily Wildcat Hall of Fame in 2003. 

Glenn Cook, Class of 1992

Glenn Cook is the executive editor and senior vice president for news at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he has helped lead award-winning reporting since joining the paper nearly 29 years ago. Cook contributed to coverage of the Review-Journal’s controversial sale in 2015 to a billionaire casino mogul, which earned the paper the Ancil Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism, the Society of Professional Journalists Ethics in Journalism Award and the James Foley Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism. Under his leadership, the paper has also won two Sigma Delta Chi Awards for deadline reporting. Prior to these national accolades, Cook’s work as a student journalist earned him the 1991 Donald Still Award for Outstanding Service to the Arizona Daily Wildcat. 

Robert “Bob” Crawford, Class of 1959

Bob Crawford was a longtime Phoenix Gazette sportswriter and editor whose journalism career spanned more than four decades. In 1995, he retired after 30 years with the Gazette but was promptly hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the team’s first media relations manager. Five years later, he took on an editor role at the Arizona Republic, finishing his career there. Crawford, who won the 1959 Donald Still Award as a student journalist, was inducted into the Daily Wildcat Hall of Fame in 2011, and he served on the School of Journalism Advisory Council for several years. Crawford died of leukemia in 2020 and is survived by his wife, Jo Anne, their two children, Robert and Shauna, and two granddaughters.

John C. D’Anna, Class of 1983

John D’Anna, managing editor at CalMatters, has spent the last four decades serving in leadership roles in newsrooms large and small across Arizona and California. He spent nearly 30 years at the Arizona Republic as a senior reporter, columnist and Page 1 editor, overseeing the print presentation of “The Wall,” a multiplatform border report that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. D’Anna was also instrumental in the Republic’s coverage of the deaths of 19 wildland firefighters in the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fires and the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in 2011, which both earned Pultizer finalist recognitions. A former Arizona Daily Wildcat editor-in-chief, D’Anna was inducted into the Wildcat’s Hall of Fame in 2014. He also serves on the School of Journalism Advisory Council and has taught journalism at Arizona State University.

Fernanda Echavarri, Class of 2007

Fernanda Echavarri is the managing editor for NPR’s Latino USA, where she produces award-winning multimedia content with a focus on immigration, identity and social justice. A native of Queretaro, Mexico, Echavarri attended the University of Arizona and started her career as a reporter for the Tucson Citizen and Arizona Daily Star. She later joined the staff of Arizona Public Media, where she earned a national Edward R. Murrow Award for her coverage of family separations under U.S. immigration law. Echavarri is the recipient of a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, a Dori J. Maynard Award for Diversity in Journalism and a Regional Emmy. She is also a Peabody Award finalist and has worked as an immigration reporter at Mother Jones magazine. 

Ellen Hale, Class of 1973

Ellen Hale spent more than a decade at the Associated Press as a senior vice president and director of corporate communications until her retirement in 2016. Prior to joining the AP, she served as USA Today’s London correspondent and took on several roles with Gannett News Service, launching their weekly medical and science page and winning the Hal Boyle Award in 1987 for her international reporting on the story "AIDS: A Killer Stalks the Globe." Like many of her fellow School of Journalism Hall of Fame inductees, Hale worked at the Arizona Daily Wildcat as a student and went on to report for the Tucson Citizen. She was inducted into the Daily Wildcat Hall of Fame in 2006.

Diane M. Johnsen, Class of 1975

Diane Johnsen, senior counsel at Perkins Coie law firm in Phoenix, is the former chief judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One. Appointed in 2006 by Gov. Janet Napolitano, she served 14 years in the role and worked for an additional two years as the court's special projects attorney. In 2020, Johnsen was named the Arizona Judicial Branch’s Judge of the Year and received the Arizona State Bar Association’s James A. Walsh Outstanding Jurist Award. After graduating from the University of Arizona, Johnsen spent five years as a political reporter at the Arizona Daily Star before earning a law degree from Stanford University. She was inducted into the Daily Wildcat Hall of Fame in 2008. 

Hans G. Laetz, Class of 1982

Hans Laetz is the founder and general manager of KBUU, a radio station that has served Malibu, California, since 2015. Launched to provide news and entertainment to Malibu residents who often cannot rely on Los Angeles radio signals due to the hilly environment, KBUU became a lifeline during the 2018 Woolsey Fire, broadcasting updates as flames destroyed much of the beach city. Laetz got his start as a broadcast journalist in Tucson while still attending the University of Arizona, later becoming an assignment editor for stations in Los Angeles and Southern California’s City News Service. Laetz and his wife Diane, a fellow University of Arizona alum, continue to produce daily newscasts at KBUU.

Saul Loeb, Class of 2004

Saul Loeb is a photojournalist for Agence France-Presse (AFP) based in Washington, D.C., covering the White House, national politics and international news. Since joining AFP in 2007, he has documented the administrations of four U.S. presidents and traveled to 85 countries, often aboard Air Force One. Loeb’s past assignments have included the historic 2018 meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore and secret presidential trips to the Middle East. His photos taken inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection became some of the most well-known from that day, and his work has been featured on the covers of TIME, Newsweek and in leading newspapers worldwide. Born and raised in Phoenix, Loeb credits the Arizona Daily Wildcat for sparking his passion for photojournalism.

D. Parvaz, Class of 1997 (M.A.)

D. Parvaz, an editor at NPR based in Washington, D.C., is an international journalist known for her frontline reporting on global conflicts and human rights issues. Formerly a senior producer and editor at Al Jazeera, she has reported from countries including Egypt, Qatar, Libya, Afghanistan and Japan. In 2011, while covering a wave of protests in Syria, Parvaz was detained by authorities, kept in a secret prison and later sent to Iran, where she was held and interrogated for more than two weeks before being released. Her detention drew international concern and spurred a global social media campaign demanding her release. Parvaz has been honored with multiple awards, including the McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage, the National Press Club’s John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Susan Hutchinson Bosch Award for Perseverance and Quiet Courage. She was inducted into the Daily Wildcat Hall of Fame in 2014.

Dan Shearer, Class of 1985

Dan Shearer serves as the editorial director for Wick Communications, supporting nearly 30 community newspapers. He is also the award-winning editor of the Southern Arizona-based Green Valley News and Sahuarita Sun newspapers. Shearer kicked off his journalism career interning at the Abilene Reporter‑News in Texas, later moving to the Palm Springs Desert Sun before returning to Arizona, where he spent two decades at the Arizona Republic in roles such as senior editor and page designer. Over the years, his newsrooms have racked up roughly two dozen first place Arizona Newspapers Association awards and several general excellence honors. In 2025, Editor & Publisher named him one of its “Editors Extraordinaire,” recognizing his editorial vision, mentorship and commitment to quality community journalism.

Linda Valdez, Class of 1980

Linda Valdez is an author and former journalist who spent more than 30 years shaping public opinion in Arizona’s two largest cities. She was a longtime columnist and member of the Arizona Republic’s editorial board, writing about immigration, domestic violence, education and the environment. Before that, she spent a decade in a similar role at the Arizona Daily Star. Her editorial work earned national honors, including recognition as a 2003 Pulitzer Prize finalist, the 2010 Scripps Howard Walker Stone Award and a 2002 Sigma Delta Chi Award. Valdez is also the author of “Crossing the Line: A Marriage Across Borders,” a memoir shortlisted for the 2016 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing that recounts the struggles she and her husband Sixto, a Mexican immigrant, faced. She also wrote the memoir “A Doctor’s Legacy,” about the founding dean of Arizona’s first medical school. Since retiring, Valdez has focused on photography and digital art, with work featured in shows across the state.

Melissa Vito, Class of 1974

Melissa Vito, now a vice provost at the University of Texas at San Antonio, spent more than 40 years serving at the University of Arizona as a senior vice president and senior vice provost, among other roles. She played a key role in major university projects like rebuilding the Student Union Memorial Center, introducing UA Online, creating THINK TANK and developing the Student Success District. Vito also helped the university secure its designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution and co-founded the University of Arizona Consortium on Gender-Based Violence. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University and has been nationally recognized for her leadership in student affairs and innovation in higher education administration. 

Each inductee was nominated by fellow alumni, colleagues, friends or family, and selected by the school’s Journalism Advisory Council and departmental faculty. 

With this new class, the Hall of Fame grows to include more than 45 trailblazing alumni and former faculty members who represent the values of the School of Journalism.