Ginger Thompson

2011 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI RECIPIENT

BA 1986, Communication

National Correspondent, Washington Bureau, New York Times

For more than 15 years, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ginger Thompson has worked for The New York Times in various roles. Today, she works as a general assignment reporter on enterprise and investigative stories, including reports on military corruption, the role of private security contractors in war zones, and how immigration has changed America.

As Mexico bureau chief her work was essential reading for those who would better understand the relationship between the United States and its neighbors, Mexico, Central America, and Haiti. She covered important events and issues, among them the fall from power of Mexico’s long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, the attempt to force President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela from power, the growth of organized crime, and the surge in illegal immigration.

Thompson’s first job after graduation from Purdue was as a general assignment reporter on the metro desk for the Los Angeles Times. She then joined the Baltimore Sun first as a National Correspondent and later their Latin American Correspondent.  She joined the Chicago Tribune as a Foreign/National Correspondent, covering the southeastern United States and Cuba.

Thompson was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her series How Race is Lived in America. She was a Pulitzer finalist in 1996 for the Gold Medal for Public Service. She has been recognized with the Selden Ring Award from the USC School of Journalism, the Overseas Press Club Award, the InterAmerican Press Association Award, and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize.