Cheryl W. Thompson is the 2017 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Educator of the Year honoree.
"As a journalist, I've won awards, but being recognized by NABJ — an organization that has meant so much to me over the years — is simply the best," Thompson told NABJ. "It's validation that the time I spend helping students craft a story or acting as a surrogate parent, advisor or friend matters."
Thompson founded and advised the student chapter of NABJ at GW and received the national organization's Salute to Excellence award in 2001 and 2010 for "journalism that best covered the black experience."
In her work as a journalist, Thompson has received an Emmy, National Headliner and was part of The Washington Post team that won a 2002 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. She continues to work as an investigative reporter at The Post where she has written extensively about immigration, government and crime.
"I love being in the classroom as much as I love being in the newsroom," she told NABJ. "To get to do the two things that I'm most passionate about is more than I could imagine."
SMPA senior Devan Cole praised Thompson as a teacher and journalist. "Her insight as a skilled beat reporter and successful investigative journalist was invaluable and helped to make her classes some of the best at GW," Cole told NABJ.
Thompson will be honored at the NABJ Convention and Career Fair in New Orleans, Aug. 9 – 13, 2017.