Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, is the Knight Chair of Race and Journalism at Howard University, where she founded the Center for Journalism & Democracy.  

Hannah-Jones has spent her career investigating racial inequality and injustice, and her reporting has earned her the MacArthur Fellowship, known as the Genius grant; a Peabody Award; two George Polk Awards and three National Magazine Awards and a 2024 primetime Emmy. Hannah-Jones also earned the John Chancellor Award for Distinguished Journalism and was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists and the Newswomen’s Club of New York. She was inducted into the Society of American Historians in 2020 and into the North Carolina Media Hall of Fame in 202. She was also named a member of the prestigious Academy of Arts and Sciences.  

In 2016, Hannah-Jones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting to increase the number of reporters and editors of color. At Howard, her work includes the creation of an Investigative Journalism Consortium with nine Historically Black Colleges and Universities to create a new curriculum, Investigative Journalism 101.  

The book version of The 1619 Project as well as the project’s children’s book, Born on the Water, were instant #1 New York Times bestsellers. The project is now an Emmy-winning six-part docuseries on Hulu, and a Spotify podcast: College Edition: The 1619 Project. 

Hannah-Jones holds a Master of Arts in mass communication from University of North Carolina and a Bachelor of Arts in history and African-American studies from University of Notre Dame.