KEVEN ANN WILLEY – VP & EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
BIO: At The Dallas Morning News since late 2002, Keven developed her interest in politics early. When her family lived in Washington, D.C., her mother used to take Keven as a baby in her bassinet to the U.S. Senate gallery to watch the likes of Everett Dirksen and Estes Kefauver debate the issues of the day. Three decades later, Keven was a political columnist for The Arizona Republic in a state that for most of the '80s and '90s was best known for impeaching, indicting or otherwise politically impaling its governors. Editorial pages under her direction have won the Pulitzer Prize once and been finalists three other times at two newspapers since 2001. (Three Dallas Morning News editorial writers won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing for work on a project titled Bridging Dallas' North-South Gap.) She has won individual awards for news, column and editorial writing -- including National Headliners honors from the Press Club of Atlantic City and awards from The Associated
Press Managing Editors Association, the Best of the West contest and the Arizona Press Club. Keven studied briefly in Europe and Mexico before graduating magna cum laude from Northern Arizona University and starting (but never finishing) a master's program in Spanish literature. She is a member of The Pulitzer Prize board, enjoys hiking and biking, and lives with her chef husband in downtown Dallas.
Hometown: Washington, D.C., raised in Tucson, Ariz.
Education: Attended University of Arizona, Colegio Cervantes (Guadalajara, Mexico) and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff where she was a walk-on varsity volleyball player. She is a graduate of the Management
Development Program sponsored by the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern
University; and in 2001 was named a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University.
WILLIAM MCKENZIE – EDITORIAL COLUMNIST
BIO: Bill joined The News in 1991, after spending 12 years in the wilds of Washington, D.C. The University of Texas grad worked there for
1980 presidential candidate John Anderson and then edited the Ripon Forum. Texas drew Bill back home to join the editorial board, where he writes editorials and a weekly column. The Fort Worth native spearheaded the launch of Texas Faith, a weekly online discussion about religion, politics and culture. He has followed George W. Bush closely and extensively covered Texas politics and the state's water needs. He and his wife are raising enthusiastic twins.
Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas
Education: The University Of Texas, bachelor of business administration, 1976
RALPH DE LA CRUZ – EDITORIAL WRITER
BIO: Ralph has been a journalist for 29 years. He began his career by talking his way into a sportswriting job at the Valley Morning Star in
Harlingen, Texas while still a student in college. He subsequently had stints at The Miami Herald, the Press-Telegram in Long Beach,
California, People en Español, the Sun-Sentinel of South Florida, and the online site, the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.
Hometown: Born in Havana, Cuba. Immigrated at age 4 (or more accurately – because a 4-year-old doesn’t make conscious decisions about such things – was brought by his parents, who had immigrated) to Corpus Christi, Texas. Was also raised in Austin, Texas.
Education: Attended the University of Texas at Austin.
SHARON GRIGSBY – DEPUTY EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR / VIEWPOINTS
BIO: Sharon oversees the Editorial Department's day-to-day operations and leads the "Bridging Dallas' North-South Gap" project, begun in
2007 to advocate for the southern half of the city and narrow the opportunity gaps between it and the north. A selection of work from the project was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. Sharon's Dallas roots reach back to 1980, when she joined the DMN newsroom after working at newspapers in New York and Detroit. She's a graduate of Baylor, where she drove the administration crazy with her editorial writing at the student newspaper. These days, when Sharon's not stirring things up on the editorial page, she most likely can be found on a pre-dawn run or a Hill Country antiquing trip — sometimes on the same day.
Hometown: Waco, Texas. Well, Hewitt, actually, a suburb of Waco. If you can imagine Waco having suburbs.
Education: Graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Baylor University in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in political science and journalism.
MIKE HASHIMOTO – EDITORIAL WRITER
BIO: In 20 years with SportsDay and the city desk, Mike had grown used to being the only right-wing nut in the room - with staunch
Democratic parents and sisters and typical college (UT-Arlington) and newsroom experiences - so the Editorial Board offers him a little company. Today, he writes editorials, manages columnists William McKenzie and Rod Dreher, assists Rod on the new Web version of our
Opinion home page and supervises selected projects. In real life, Mike is married to Metro columnist Jacquielynn Floyd, who thankfully offers a more moderate view of the world.
Hometown: San Francisco
Education: Almost graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington on the six-year plan. Just missed by three hours. Seriously. Graduated from Kimball High School in Dallas, 1976.
RODGER JONES – EDITORIAL WRITER
BIO: Rodger Jones focuses on transportation, higher ed, criminal justice, the Legislature, state politics and open government issues for the
Editorial Board. He joined the board after serving as state editor and city editor in his 23 years with The News.
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Education: Bachelor's of Arts in Journalism, Ohio State University, 1975
JIM MITCHELL EDITORIAL WRITER
BIO: Jim has been with The News since 1984, joining the editorial board in 1998. His specialty is business and economics, but he's been known to craft editorials on topics as diverse as the Wright amendment battle, emerging technologies, international AIDS policy, city politics and cultural and societal shifts. Jim graduated from Loyola University, earned a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and attended business and economics workshops. Meeting Nelson Mandela in South Africa was his most unforgettable career moment.
Hometown: Chicago
Education: Loyola University with a bachelor of arts, political science; Northwestern University with a master of science in journalism; Herbert
J. Davenport Fellowship, University of Missouri, Columbia; Program in business and economics reporting
TOD ROBBERSON – EDITORIAL WRITER
BIO: Tod focuses on southern Dallas, drug trafficking, border issues, immigration and international affairs. He's a former foreign correspondent with 25 years' experience covering Latin America, the Middle East and Europe.
Hometown: Denver, Colo.; raised in Houston.
Education: Bachelor of science in communications/journalism from Texas Tech University; master of arts in Arab Studies from Georgetown
University School of Foreign Service.
NICOLE STOCKDALE – ASSISTANT EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR / POINTS
BIO: As assistant editorial page editor, Nicole helps run the day-to-day operations of the Editorial Department. She is the editor of Points, the
Sunday commentary section. She also edits the weekly Hits and Misses feature, in addition to other editorials. She joined the editorial board in
2006 after seven years as a copy editor. Nicole loves her neighborhood in north Oak Cliff, where she lives with her sportswriter husband,
Corbett, and daughter, Maren.
Hometown: Nicole was born in Nebraska but did most of her growing up in Wichita, Kan.
Education: Graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor's degree in political science and communication