Investigative Journalism Professor and Investigations Editor

Organization's Summary Statement:
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, consistently ranked among the world's top journalism schools, develops journalists and media scholars with rigorous reporting, research and analytical skills, a commitment to ethics, and an appreciation for the First Amendment’s key role in a free society. Located a few miles from Washington, D.C., the college prepares students for a dynamic profession, with a faculty that includes acclaimed researchers and repeat winners of journalism’s top awards — including the Pulitzer, Peabody and Emmy awards.

Merrill College students enjoy small classes and also have access to the resources and opportunities available at one of the nation’s top public research universities. Our students leave the university with strong writing and visual skills, a command of technology and a nuanced understanding of data analysis, AI and audience engagement. The college has approximately 450 undergraduate and graduate students, and about 60 faculty and staff.

The college is housed in Knight Hall, located on the UMD College Park campus. The college also runs news bureaus in Annapolis and Washington, is the home of the award-winning Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and the Local News Network. It is also host to the national office of the National Association of Black Journalists.

The University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism is seeking an experienced investigative journalist to join its faculty as an investigative journalism professor. This person will also serve as the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism’s lead investigations editor. The Howard Center is an investigative reporting unit and journalism training program based at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism.

Funded by the Scripps Howard Foundation, it regularly partners with major national newsrooms — such as NPR, PBS News Hour, KFF Health News and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project — to produce deeply reported investigations. The center, founded in 2019, specializes in investigative reporting that incorporates complex data and digital document analysis, advanced computational methods, and, increasingly, visual forensic and open source intelligence (OSINT) reporting techniques.

In a partnership with the Associated Press global investigations team and a FRONTLINE (PBS) documentary unit, the center was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting in 2025 for an in-depth, data-driven investigation into police custody deaths. The center has also won dozens of major journalism awards for its investigations, including two Edward R. Murrow Awards, a National Headliner Award and an IRE Medal.

This position is a full-time, year-round, in-person position based in the Howard Center in College Park, Maryland. It is not eligible for a fully remote or hybrid schedule, although occasional remote work is allowed.

• A bachelor’s degree.

• A minimum of 5 years of experience working as a journalist.

• Experience producing investigative journalism as a reporter.

• Experience managing complex investigative journalism projects as an editor.

• Serve as lead editor on investigative reporting projects produced by Howard Center graduate fellows and undergraduate students, working with Merrill College faculty, professional newsroom partners and partners at other journalism schools.

• Teach one course per semester — a total of two courses per year — that are directly integrated with Howard Center investigations. This includes a…