Ann Dwyer is editor of Crain’s Chicago Business, the first woman to hold that position in the history of the business publication. She also writes editorials for Crain’s, for which she has earned several Peter Lisagor Awards from the Chicago Headline Club. She has also won awards for reporting, editing, and headline writing from the Illinois Press Association, the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association, and the Society of American Business Editors & Writers. That multitalented approach is also reflected in her Daily Illini career, where she was reporter, campus editor, summer editor-in-chief, copy editor, slot, night editor, and managing editor.

WPGU News Director Madison Holcomb sits down with Dwyer to discuss her time at the Daily Illini and her career since then.

Read The Daily Illini's profile of Ann Dwyer here.

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Amara Enyia is an activist, lawyer, and public policy expert focused on supporting efforts that bring justice and equity to marginalized communities in Chicago and around the world. She ran for mayor of Chicago twice. She chairs an international human rights-centered working group that advocates at the United Nations and develops advocacy strategies for struggling cities and citizens on economic justice, criminal legal system reform, environmental justice, education equity, and other policy areas. Enyia served as editor in chief at the Daily Illini as an undergrad and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Education Policy and a law degree.

WPGU News Director Madison Holcomb sits down with Enyia to discuss her time at the Daily Illini and her career since then.

Read The Daily Illini's profile of Amara Enyia here.

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John J. Kim is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, whose work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and the Oakland Tribune, among other publications. He earned the 2011 Pulitzer in local reporting as part of a team reporting on city homicides for the Sun-Times. Kim has worked for the Tribune since 2012, contributing daily coverage throughout the newspaper. He’s also captured numerous iconic sports photos for the paper, including images from the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series run. During college, Kim, a 1997 graduate, was a Daily Illini photographer.

Read The Daily Illini's profile of John J. Kim here.

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Bernard Schoenburg's career in journalism began at The Daily Illini, investigating a fraternity that was scalping concert tickets. He went on to work at the Bloomington Pantagraph in 1977, then at the Associated Press in Chicago, and eventually to the Springfield Journal-Register in 1990. He was also a regular host of "CapitolView," a weekly political affairs program on public TV. His tenacity and work ethic made him a powerful force in political journalism in Illinois. Schoenburg covered national political conventions, grilled governors, state legislators, members of Congress, and former President Barack Obama when he was a state and U.S. senator. Always fair, never shy, he held governors, representatives, senators, and institutions accountable. Schoenburg was part of the team that won a prestigious George Polk Award in 1994 for its "Cash Transaction" series about campaign contributions and government contracts. He also received numerous awards for his work as a columnist. Schoenburg retired in 2020.

WPGU Political Editor Jane Knight sits down with Schoenburg to discuss his time at the Daily Illini and his career since then.

Read The Daily Illini's profile of Bernard Schoenburg here.

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Jon Hansen is all things media in Chicago. His award-winning career as a TV, radio, podcast, and gameday host has included work at WCIU-TV, WGN-AM, the Chicago Blackhawks, Block Club Chicago, DNAinfo, and Total Traffic. Most recently he was named as the host of WGN's new show “Your Money Matters.” Jon won a Silver Dome Award in 2020 and an Emmy in 2021.

WPGU News Correspondent Anne McKeown sits down with Hansen to discuss his time at Illini Media Company and his career since then.

Read The Daily Illini's profile of Jon Hansen here.

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As an award-winning correspondent at Reuters, Susan J. Smith Cornwell dedicated many years to reporting in Washington, D.C. on the White House and Capitol Hill. Cornwell had started out as an Illinois local newspaper journalist before her career took her abroad to Germany, the Soviet Union, and Britain, interviewing different world leaders, before returning to the United States. She recently retired in January 2022.

WPGU Political Editor Jane Knight sits down with Susan J. Smith Cornwell to discuss her time as features editor for the Daily Illini and her career since then.

Read The Daily Illini's profile of Cornwell here.

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Rick Sallinger is a Peabody Award winning broadcast journalist whose fifty-year career has included reporting for CNN, WMAQ-TV in Chicago, and currently CBS 4 in Denver. He’s covered the Columbine High School shooting, the trials of the Oklahoma City bombing perpetrators, and three wars. During his time as Program Director at WPGU, he ushered the station out of the university dorms and onto the airwaves as a competitive commercial FM station, where it began airing commentaries for the first time.

WPGU News correspondent Owen Henderson sits down with Sallinger to discuss his extensive career and WPGU's influence on it.

Read The Daily Illini's profile of Rick Sallinger here.

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Will Leitch is the founding editor of the sports blog Deadspin, which he ran until 2008, and is a contributor to publications, including The New York Times, GQ, and Sports Illustrated. He's a contributing editor at New York magazine, a national correspondent for MLB.com, and the author of five books. His most recent novel, “How Lucky,” was nominated for a 2022 Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. He also hosts several podcasts, including Grierson & Leitch, a weekly film review podcast with his childhood friend Tim Grierson. Leitch, a 1998 graduate, was a Daily Illini reporter, columnist, and editor.

WPGU Program Director J. Sidney Malone sits down with Will Leitch to discuss his career in writing as well as his time at the Daily Illini.

Read The Daily Illini's profile of Will Leitch here.

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