Eleventh James H. Ottaway Sr. Professor of Journalism to discuss “The Art of Investigative Reporting” at SUNY New Paltz

NEW PALTZ – Andrew W. Lehren, an award-winning investigative reporter at The New York Times and the 2012 James H. Ottaway Sr. Professor of Journalism at the State University of New York at New Paltz, will give a public speech on “The Art of Investigative Reporting” on Wednesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. in the Coykendall Science Building auditorium on the New Paltz campus. A reception will follow.

Lehren joined the New Paltz journalism program faculty for the spring 2012 semester to teach a seminar on enterprise and investigative reporting. The class is focusing on in-depth, advanced reporting skills, including finding story ideas, examining public records, and using freedom of information laws and databases.

Lehren was one of the lead reporters on The New York Times’ groundbreaking coverage of the Wikileaks release of diplomatic cables, Afghanistan and Iraq war logs, and Guantanamo detainee dossiers. He contributed articles to the Pulitzer Prize-winning series that examined unregulated chemicals from China in U.S. pharmaceuticals. He teaches investigative journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

“Our students are extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to learn from Andrew Lehren. Private gifts such as the Ottaway endowment make such experiences possible,” said College President Donald P. Christian. “Now, the rest of the campus community and the general public have a unique opportunity to hear about Andrew’s in-depth investigations that have exposed some of the most critical issues and events of our time. This is one example of how New Paltz fulfills its role as an intellectual and cultural hub for the region,” he added.

In addition to his current position with The New York Times, Lehren has been an investigative producer at NBC News. His work there included reports on fraud in the insurance industry, racial profiling, and defective automobiles. He has won a Polk award, a Peabody, two duPont-Columbia batons and Edward R. Murrow investigative awards, several Emmys and a Daniel Pearl Investigative Award.

Ten well-known journalists have preceded Lehren as Ottaway professors. Four have been Pulitzer Prize winners, including Renée C. Byer, a photographer for The Sacramento Bee; former New York Times investigative reporter and columnist Sydney Schanberg; Bernard Stein, former editor of The Riverdale Press in the Bronx; and John Darnton, a former New York Times foreign correspondent.

Other past Ottaway professors were award-winning broadcast journalist and media consultant John Larson; Ann Cooper, a former NPR reporter who headed the Committee to Protect Journalists; Byron E. Calame, a longtime Wall Street Journal editor and reporter who has served as The New York Times’ public editor; Roger Kahn, the author of 20 books and one of America’s foremost literary journalists; Trudy Lieberman, one of America’s best consumer reporters; and Martin Gottlieb, the global edition editor of The New York Times.

The Ottaway Professorship is named for the founder of Ottaway Newspapers Inc., now the Dow Jones Local Media Group, which operates print and online community media franchises in seven states. The flagship newspaper of the chain is the Times Herald-Record in Middletown.