Cheryl Thompson, an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs, has been named Educator of the Year by The National Association of Black Journalists, according to a release Monday.
Thompson, who also works as an investigative reporter for The Washington Post, said it was particularly meaningful for her to be recognized by the NABJ – an organization that has been important to her throughout her career.
“It’s validation that the time I spend helping students craft a story or acting as a surrogate parent, adviser or friend matters,” she said in the release.
Thompson has also won two Salute to Excellence Awards from the NABJ in 2001 and 2010 and launched the organization’s GW chapter in 2014, according to the release.
“I love being in the classroom as much as I love being in the newsroom,” she said. “To get to do the two things that I’m most passionate about is more than I could imagine.”
During her career in journalism, Thompson has won an Emmy Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Freedom of Information Medal and was part of a Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 2002.
Senior Devan Cole said Thompson’s experience in the field has made her an effective journalism professor.
“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 said in the release.