William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award

Religion news editor Bill Reed works in the Tennessean newsroom in 1981

Past Winners

• 2023: Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune

• 2021: Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times & The Washington Post

• 2020: Ari Goldman, The New York Times & Columbia University

• 2019: Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY & Religion News Service

• 2018: Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

• 2017: Jeffrey Weiss, The Dallas Morning News, The Miami Herald, Religion News Service

• 2016: Cecile S. Holmes, Religion News Service, Houston Chronicle

• 2015: Richard Dujardin, The Providence Journal

• 2014: Roy Larson, Chicago Sun-Times

• 2013: Adon Taft, The Miami Herald

• 2012: Paul Carlson, Religion News Service

• 2010: Gustav Niebuhr, The New York Times

• 2009: Gayle White, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• 2008: John Dart, Los Angeles Times

• 2007: Russ Chandler, Los Angeles Times

• 2006: Dick Ostling, The Associated Press

• 2005: Ed Briggs, Richmond Times-Dispatch

• 2004: David E. Anderson, Religion News Service

• 2003: Richard Philbrick, Chicago Tribune

• 2002: Helen Parmley, The Dallas Morning News

• 2001: Willmar Thorkelson, Minneapolis Star

About the Award

The William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 2001 and is presented to individuals who demonstrate exceptional long-term commitment and service to the Religion News Association and its members, and to the field of religion journalism.

The award’s namesake, William A. Reed, was the first Black president of the RNA, serving from 1976-78. He was also the first Black journalist to work full time for The Tennessean in Nashville, and one of the first Black reporters on the religion beat. W.C. Fields, a Southern Baptist Convention spokesman said of Reed, "I always felt that he was not only a good newsman, he was very sensitive to the implications of the stories he was writing.” Reed died in 1991.

How to Nominate Someone

Email the name of the person you’d like to nominate to engage@rna.org along with a brief paragraph about why you think they deserve to be a lifetime achievement winner.