FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Megan Mulligan, [email protected] or 212-854-3841
New York, NY (Nov. 16, 2018) — Following public allegations regarding Professor Junot Díaz, the Pulitzer Prize Board determined to conduct a thorough, wide-ranging, fair, and independent review of the matter that would follow the facts wherever they might lead. Accordingly, the Board retained the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly to conduct an independent review. Professor Díaz voluntarily recused from the review process. Williams & Connolly conducted an exhaustive review that lasted five months, involved interviews with dozens of witnesses and analysis of hundreds of pages of documents (as well as audiotapes, where available), and examined the steps taken by other relevant institutions to investigate this matter. The review did not find evidence warranting removal of Professor Díaz from the Board. Accordingly, after full discussion and consideration by the members, Professor Díaz will be welcomed to resume his full duties as a Board member and to fulfill his term, which expires in April of 2019.
The Pulitzer Prizes were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon his death in 1911. A portion of his bequest was used to found the School of Journalism in 1912 and establish the Pulitzer Prizes, which were first awarded in 1917.
The 19-member Pulitzer Board is composed mainly of leading journalists or news executives from media outlets across the U.S., as well as five academics or persons in the arts. The dean of Columbia's journalism school and the administrator of the prizes are nonvoting members. The chair rotates annually to the most senior member or members. The board is self-perpetuating in the election of members. Voting members may serve three terms of three years for a total of nine years.