Deborah Howell is a trailblazing editor who has helped newspapers and other media platforms transition to changes in the industry. The daughter of journalists and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Howell started her career at the Austin American-Statesman and Corpus Christi Caller-Times before moving north in 1965 to work at the Minnesota Star, where she rose to city editor. She joined the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1979 and became vice-president and editor. During her tenure at the Pioneer Press, the newspaper won two Pulitzer Prizes in feature writing and was a finalist seven times. It also won numerous state awards. In 1990, Howell became Washington bureau chief for Advance Publications’ Newhouse Newspapers and editor of Newhouse News Service. The service won a Pulitzer Prize in photography and had three other journalism finalists during her tenure. She also oversaw Religion News Service, which then was a subsidiary of the service. In 2005, Howell became ombudsman for the Washington Post and served a term of more than three years. She is now a consultant for Advance. Howell is a board member of the National Press Foundation, the American Society of News Editors Foundation, the International Women’s Media Foundation and the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Updated: July 13, 2012