Al Fitzpatrick, retired Knight-Ridder news executive, JMC alum, and current adjunct professor, is the winner of the third annual Robert G. McGruder Award.

He spoke on diversity in the media after the Award Luncheon in October. Read Kent Stater story

Fitzpatrick, who graduated in 1956, is a retired Knight Ridder news executive and journalist.

The award, and the lecture that is delivered as part of the program, is named for a Kent State University alumnus. It recognizes the accomplishments of media professionals who encourage diversity in the field of journalism and is awarded by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Fitzpatrick is dean of the Albert E. Fitzpatrick Leadership Development Institute sponsored by the National Association of Minority Executives; president and CEO of Fitzpatrick Consultants, a diversity entity; and an adjunct professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The Elyria native is a former executive editor of the Akron Beacon Journal where he worked for 29 years. He was the first
black managing editor and executive editor of a major metropolitan newspaper in the United States.

The late Robert G. McGruder, '63, was a pioneer both in diversity and in the field of journalism. He was the first black editor of the Daily Kent Stater, and the first black reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, both in 1963. In 1995 he was the first black to become