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Gerald F. Seib, a 1978 KU School of Journalism
graduate and the Wall Street Journal Washington bureau
chief, received the William Allen White Foundation's 2005
national citation February 11 at the University of Kansas.
Seib accepted the citation and gave the
annual William Allen White Day speech during a 1:30 p.m. public
ceremony in Woodruff Auditorium of the Kansas Union. During
his visit, Seib met with students and faculty and spoke in
several journalism classes.
The White Foundation trustees chose Seib
to receive the citation, presented annually since 1950 to
journalists who exemplify the ideals of William Allen White.
KU's William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications
is named in White's honor. White (1868-1944) was a nationally
influential Kansas editor and publisher.
“As a distinguished graduate of
the J-School, Gerald Seib is a role model for our students,”
said Ann Brill, School of Journalism dean. “We are honored
to host his return to KU and it has been fascinating to hear
his perspective on journalism in today’s changing world.”
In addition to Seib’s duties as
the Wall Street Journal Washington bureau chief,
he also writes the paper's "Capital Journal" column
on a periodic basis and is a regular commentator on Washington
affairs for CNBC, cable television. He was part of the team
from the Journal that won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize
in the "breaking news" category for its coverage
of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Before assuming his current position
in March 2002, he had been the Wall Street Journal's
deputy bureau chief in Washington since September 1997. He
had written the weekly "Capital Journal" column,
appearing on the Journal's Politics & Policy
page since spring 1993, and had responsibility for The
Wall Street Journal/NBC News Polls.
He joined the Dallas bureau of the Journal
as a reporter in 1978 and transferred to the Journal's
Washington bureau in 1980 to cover the Pentagon and State
Department. In 1984, he and his wife, fellow journalist and
1978 KU School of Journalism graduate Barbara Rosewicz, were
transferred to Cairo to cover the Middle East.
While living in Cairo, Seib, along with
56 other journalists, was invited to tour the Iran-Iraq warfront.
On the night of January 31, 1987, he was detained by plainclothes
policemen in Tehran, Iran, and taken to Evin Prison where
he was accused of spying for Israel. Suddenly and inexplicably,
after four days of interrogation, he was released.
In 1987 Seib and his wife returned to
the Washington bureau where he covered the White House and
reported on diplomacy and foreign policy. In December 1992,
Seib became a news editor responsible for the Journal's
national political coverage from Washington and around the
country.
In 1988, Seib won the Merriman Smith
award, which honors coverage of the presidency under deadline,
and the Aldo Beckman award for coverage of the White House
and the presidency, and in 1990, he received the Gerald R.
Ford Foundation prize for distinguished reporting on the presidency.
In 1992, the Georgetown University Institute of Diplomacy
awarded him the Weintal Prize for his coverage of the Gulf
War. He received honorable mention in the Edwin Hood Prize
competition for diplomatic reporting from the National Press
Club in 1998.
Seib is a native of Hays, Kansas. He
earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from KU and was
a member of Phi Kappa Phi, a national academic honor society,
and Kappa Tau Alpha, a national journalism honor society.
He also was an intern in the Journal's Dallas bureau,
editor of the University Daily Kansan and a Sears
Foundation congressional intern in the office of U.S. Representative
Gillis Long of Louisiana.
He and his wife have three sons and live
in Chevy Chase, Md.
Other notable recipients of the William
Allen White Citation have included James Reston, 1950; Walter
Cronkite, 1969; Arthur O. Sulzberger, 1974; James J. Kilpatrick,
1979; Helen Thomas, 1986; Charles Kuralt, 1989; Bernard Shaw,
1994; Bob Woodward, 2000; Molly Ivins, 2001; and Cokie Roberts,
2002.
For more information, contact Jennifer
Kinnard, Communications Coordinator for the University of
Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications,
at (785) 864-7644 or jkinnard@ku.edu.
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