UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In observance of the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prizes, four award-winning journalists with Pennsylvania connections are set to conduct a panel discussion Sept. 27 on the University Park campus.
The event, which will be held at 7 p.m. in Schwab Auditorium, is free and open to the public. Panelists include: Jacqueline Larma, Associated Press (AP) East Coast photo chief, who was part of a photo team that won a Pulitzer in 1995; Bill Marimow, editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting in 1985; and Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News, who won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting in 2010.
Marimow joined the Inquirer in July 1972 as a business reporter. As a reporter, Marimow twice received a Pulitzer — in 1978, for stories he wrote with a partner on criminal violence by Philadelphia police, and in 1985, for his investigation of the police K-9 unit. In 1985, his work on the MOVE bombing formed the backbone of the Inquirer’s Pulitzer Prize entry, which was a finalist in the general reporting category in 1986. In addition, Marimow received two Silver Gavel Awards from the American Bar Association and two Robert F. Kennedy awards — the first, for his work as an Inquirer reporter and the second for his work as vice president of news at National Public Radio (NPR). Marimow has also served as the editor of The Baltimore Sun and the vice president of news for NPR. He is a 1969 graduate of Trinity College. He studied First Amendment law at Harvard Law School as a Nieman Fellow in 1982-83.
Larma oversees AP photo coverage across formats for the region based in Philadelphia. She was a member of AP's four-person, 1995 Pulitzer-winning team in feature photography for its work covering the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda. Larma joined the AP in 1991 in Jerusalem, transferred to London in 1994, and returned to Jerusalem in 1997. From 2000 to 2003 she was the chief photographer and photo editor in Jerusalem, then transferred to Philadelphia as staff photographer. She was named Pennsylvania photo editor in 2005 and East regional photo editor in 2010. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas.
Ruderman and Laker won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting "for their resourceful reporting that exposed a rogue police narcotics squad, resulting in an FBI probe and the review of hundreds of criminal cases tainted by the scandal."
Before joining the Daily News in 2007, Ruderman worked at several media organizations, including the Inquirer, WHYY-TV and 91FM, the Trenton (New Jersey) Times, the Associated Press, and the Bergen (New Jersey) Record. From June 2012 to June 2013 she was The New York Times’ police bureau chief. Ruderman has a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Laker worked for several newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Dallas Times Herald. In 1993, she joined the Daily News, where she has been a general assignment reporter, an assistant city editor and an investigative reporter. She graduated from the University of Missouri.