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Academic Degrees

• Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing-Fiction, Northwestern University
• Master's degree in Journalism, The Ohio State University
• Dual Bachelor's degrees in Journalism: Newseditorial Writing, Photojournalism, University of Missouri, School of Journalism

Journalism
​Awards

• Harvard University’s Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting from the Kennedy School of Government  
• Investigative Reporters & Editors Award for Investigative Reporting 
• Edgar A. Poe Award by the White House Correspondents' Association
• Sigma Delta Chi national award for investigative reporting 
• Peter Lisagor Journalism Award for editorial writing
•International Press Club of Chicago Award for Veterans Affairs Reporting 

Writing and Editing

• Editorial Page Editor, Books Editor and Investigative Reporter, Chicago Sun-Times
• Managing Editor, TriQuarterly, literary journal
• Editor, Medicine on the Midway Magazine, University of Chicago Medical Center

Freelance Writing

• The Washington Post
• Wall Street Journal 
• Mother Jones
• Salon
• Time Magazine
• The New York Times
• Poets & Writers Magazine
• U.S. News & World Report magazine
• Minneapolis Star Tribune
• Minneapolis City Pages
• Catholic Digest
• Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine