Award-winning Anchor and Reporter, Maria Hinojosa, is the 2015 LAS Commencement Speaker
UIC’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce that Maria Hinojosa – award-winning news anchor and reporter – will be the College’s 2015 commencement speaker. In addition, Hinojosa will also receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. The ceremony will be held at the UIC Pavilion at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 10.
In over 25 years as a journalist, Hinojosa – who was born in Mexico City and raised in Chicago – has worked for NPR, CNN, PBS, CBS, WNBC and WGBH. Her reporting focuses on critical immigration issues and on economically challenged communities. Hinojosa’s work aligns with UIC’s mission to foster accessibility and equality among a diverse student body.
Hinojosa, who received her BA from Barnard College, is the anchor and executive producer of Latino USA, the executive producer and host for the PBS show America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa, and is the founder and President of The Futuro Media Group. Latino USA is NPR’s only Latino news show, and is one of the earliest public radio programs devoted to the Latino community. America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa investigates the changing cultural and political landscape in America and abroad. The Futuro Media Group, launched in 2010, is a nonprofit organization that provides multi-platform, community-based journalism that showcases the diversity of the American experience.
In addition to reporting and anchoring news, Hinojosa has authored two books: “Raising Raul: Adventures Raising Myself and My Son,” a motherhood memoir; and “Crews: Gang Members Talk with Maria Hinojosa,” an in-depth collection of interviews with gang members in New York City.
Hinojosa has received numerous awards for her work including: four Emmys; the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism; Robert F. Kennedy Award for Reporting on the Disadvantaged; the Studs Terkel Community Media Award; the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club for best documentary for her groundbreaking “Child Brides: Stolen Lives;” the AWRT Gracie Award for Individual Achievement as Best TV correspondent; and was named among the top 25 Latinos in Contemporary American Culture by the Huffington Post.
Hinojosa is currently the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Chair of Latin American and Latino Studies at DePaul University in Chicago and a Global Post ‘Voces’ columnist.
For more information on the 2015 commencement ceremony, please click here.