Longtime Nieman Foundation Curator Ann Marie Lipinski To Step Down at End of Academic Year

The curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Ann Marie Lipinski, will step down from her role at the end of the academic year after 14 years leading Harvard’s center for journalism, the foundation announced Thursday.

Lipinski, the first woman to lead the organization, oversaw the foundation’s fellowship program, which brings professional journalists to Harvard for a year to attend classes and work on long-term projects. She expanded the program to include fellowships in journalism innovation and local investigative journalism.

Lipinski assumed the foundation’s curatorship in 2011 after a storied career in journalism. In 1988, she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team at the Chicago Tribune that uncovered corruption within Chicago’s City Council. She later served from 2001 to 2008 as the Tribune’s editor-in-chief.

“It has been a profound privilege to lead Nieman, not in spite of the industry complexities but because of them,” she said in the press release. “Each year, journalism faced new challenges and each year, a new class of fellows rose to confront them. Fortifying those journalists for the future is essential.”

Lipinski herself was a former Nieman fellow in the 1989-90 academic year.

Outgoing Nieman Foundation curator Ann Marie Lipinski. By Courtesy of Lisa Abitbol

As curator, Lipinski oversaw a redesign of Nieman Reports, the foundation’s publication on the practice of journalism. She also led the Nieman Foundation’s other two publications: the Nieman Journalism Lab, which covers journalism in the digital era, and Nieman Storyboard, which reports on narrative nonfiction.

During her tenure, the three publications covered dramatic change in the industry, including the decline of local media outlets, decreasing trust in the media, and the impacts of generative artificial intelligence.

Lipinski also introduced a new visiting fellowship program, which supports journalists working on short-term reporting projects.

In the release, Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 thanked Lipinski for her impact on journalism and time at the University.

“Ann Marie and I returned to Harvard at the same time — our appointments announced just days apart — and I have watched with admiration as she has met change after change with energy and optimism, always centering her efforts on recruiting and nurturing outstanding fellows,” Garber said.

“Her influence on countless careers and her impact on the field itself will continue to shape how news is produced and consumed around the world,” he added.

The foundation did not specify its timeline for appointing a new leader but wrote that the search would begin “soon.”

“I have found both purpose and joy as Nieman’s curator and am deeply grateful for the trust that Harvard has placed in me. I believe it is now time for others to lead this work that I have loved,” Lipinski said.

—Staff writer Ellen P. Cassidy can be reached at ellen.cassidy@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @ellenpcassidy.

—Staff writer Catherine Jeon can be reached at catherine.jeon@thecrimson.com.