Lacy C. Haynes Professor Patricia Weems Gaston served as 2024 Pulitzer Prize juror

Lacy C. Haynes Professor Patricia (Weems) Gaston served as a 2024 Pulitzer Prize juror. The Pulitzer Prize is regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievement, and musical composition.

Gaston was part of the International Reporting Jury that met at Columbia University in late February. The jury made three nominations and sent them to the Pulitzer Board which selects the winner. The winners and nominated finalists were announced on May 6.

"This was a full-circle moment for me, given that I co-edited a winning project in the early 1990s," said Gaston. "The jury process is not for the faint of heart, but it is awe-inspiring to read thoughtful, well-written pieces given continued down-turns in our industry." 

Gaston was co-editor of the Dallas Morning News' 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning series that looked at the universality of violence against women. The 1981 Journalism School graduate returned to the University of Kansas in 2018 to teach after a long, stellar career at The Washington Post, where she was an editor who worked on several desks including National, Foreign and Editorial.