Participants:
Angelique S. Chengelis, a native Cincinnatian, attended UC and worked as The News Record’s sports editor before graduating in 1987. She has spent the majority of her career at The Detroit News where she covers Michigan football and motorsports. She became an analyst for ESPN and ABC’s coverage of NASCAR in 2007 and has appeared on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines”, “SportsCenter” and “ESPNEWS.” She’s also contributed regularly to sports talk shows on WDFN-AM in Detroit. Angelique serves several of ESPN’s multi-media platforms, reporting for NASCAR Now, NASCAR Countdown, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS and SportsCenter, as well as providing weekly content on ESPN.com.
Ann Hagedorn, award-winning journalist and author of Savage Peace, hails from Dayton, Ohio. After starting her career in the library at the University of Kansas, she moved to New York, where received an advanced journalism degree from Columbia University. She wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, then moved back to New York to join the staff of the Wall Street Journal. She became known for her investigative stories and front-page scoops. Ann wrote her first narrative non-fiction book about the collapse of America’s premier horseracing dynasty, Calumet Farm. Her work researching the Underground Railroad precipitated her move to Ripley, Ohio, where she currently resides and continues to write. Ann has taught at Northwestern University, Columbia, Vassar and most recently at Xavier University.
Marilyn Geewax, the national economics correspondent for Cox Newspapers' Washington Bureau, is a native of Youngstown, Ohio. She got her Bachelor's degree in Journalism from Ohio State University and studied economics and international relations at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow. Marilyn joined the Washington Bureau in 1999. Before that, she worked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a business reporter and columnist. She started her career as a reporter with the Akron Beacon Journal and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Marilyn appears frequently on C-SPAN's “Newsmakers” and “Washington Journal,” and PBS's “White House Chronicle.” She has taught advanced business reporting at George Washington University.
Kelly Leon, vice president of communications and community relations at 3CDC, earned her undergraduate degree in political science at UC, where she served as editor of The News Record. She got her Master’s degree in Journalism at Northwestern and went on to a career in print and broadcast journalism that took her from Florida’s Sun Sentinel to WLWT-TV and WKRC-TV back in Cincinnati. Kelly worked at Xavier University for more than a decade, eventually serving as vice president for public relations. A Cincinnati native, Kelly lives in Walnut Hills.
Hagit Limor, an Emmy and national award-winning investigative reporter, has worked as an anchor and general assignment reporter as well as the heart of the WCPO-TV’s I-Team investigative unit. Her investigative work has garnered awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Headliner Awards. She received her undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Laurie Pike, style editor, Los Angeles magazine, is an experienced print, broadcast and online journalist, who has spent much of her professional life in Los Angeles. She has produced segments for VH1’s “Fashion Television” and MTV’s “House of Style.” She launched Glue magazine in LA and the Los Angeles Times’ Distinction magazine before beginning an ongoing consulting role with L.A. Daily News’ web site. As editorial director for LA.com, she oversaw all online content. Currently, she serves as the style editor at the award-winning monthly, Los Angeles. Laurie got her degree in English from UC, where she pursued journalism and worked at The News Record.
Rachel Richardson, a graduate student at UC, professional journalist and blogger, has had her work featured in The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune. A recovering anorexic and bulimic, Rachel has refocused her food obsessions into researching the social history and psychology of food culture in America, which has resulted, in part, in www.the-f-word.org, her well-researched and informative blog about food, fat and feminism. A member of the National Eating Disorders Association, the Association for Size Diversity and Health and the Organization of American Historians, Rachel also contributes to The Disordered Times and First, Do No Harm.
Fox 19 Weekend Anchor and Special Segment Producer Regina Russo joined the local broadcast scene in 1996 after earning her degree from Purdue University and beginning her radio and television career in Michigan. She has received seven AP and National Association of Broadcasters awards and has studied at the Poynter Media Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. Now the host of “What’s Hot with Regina,” “Making the Grade with Regina Russo” and the weekly public affairs program “Cincinnati Matters,” Regina has been profiled in Ebony magazine and appeared on The Learning Channel.
Andrea Torrice is a storyteller who combines writing and video images to explore mostly non-fictional and personal stories. She has made documentary videos for more than a decade, garnering awards for her work about the environment and current affairs for public television. Her documentary “Rising Waters: Global Warming and the Fate of the Pacific Islands,” puts a human face on the international climate change debate. Andrea established her documentary film production company, Torrice Productions, in San Francisco, but now lives in Cincinnati.
Gail Towns teaches Introduction to Journalism, News Writing and Reporting and Advanced Reporting courses at UC. Before coming to UC, she earned her Masters in Journalism at Northwestern University, and reported on urban issues and higher education for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Towns also gained valuable PR experience while working as a publicist in University Relations at Western Michigan University. Gail has volunteered for organizations such as the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), and continues to volunteer for the Associated Press Managing Editors (APME). She also continues her reporting and writing as an active freelancer for local newspapers and magazines. Her professional highlights have prepared her well for teaching at UC by giving her opportunities to get to know students through her writing, as a coach and as a mentor.
