Nikole Hannah-Jones, inaugural Knight Chair in race and journalism at the Cathy Hughes School of Communications at Howard University, is a MacArthur Fellowship recipient for “reshaping national conversations around education reform.”

Professor Hannah-Jones is the creator of the New York Times Magazine’s “The 1619 Project,” about the history and lasting legacy of American slavery. Hannah-Jones wrote the project’s introductory essay, which ran under the powerful headline “Our Democracy’s Founding Ideals Were False When They Were Written. Black Americans Have Fought to Make Them True.” The essay earned Hannah-Jones her first Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

Nikole was recently named Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2021. She is also the recipient of a Peabody Award, two George Polk Awards and is a three-time National Magazine Awards winner.

Hannah-Jones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting to increase the number of reporters and editors of color. She holds a master of arts in mass communication from the University of North Carolina and earned her bachelor's degree in history and African American studies from the University of Notre Dame.