Three UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni and a UC Santa Barbara alumna were awarded 2026 Pulitzer Prizes, one of the most prestigious honors in journalism.
What it is:
Established in 1917, the Pulitzer Prize is bestowed annually by Columbia University on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board, which evaluates submissions from across the country.
Why it matters:
The University of California is an ideal launching pad for meaningful careers in public service, with alumni quickly making their mark in the nation’s top newsrooms. 45 UC faculty and numerous alumni have earned Pulitzer Prizes across its categories of journalism, books, drama and music.
The winners:
Kathleen Hennessey, Susie Neilson, and Garance Burke (UC Berkeley Journalism); Tess Kenny (UC Santa Barbara)
Breaking News
UC Berkeley Journalism School alum Kathleen Hennessey, editor and senior vice president of the Minnesota Star Tribune, led her staff to the Pulitzer Prize for the publication’s coverage of a shooting at a back-to-school Mass at a Catholic school where two children were killed and 17 wounded. The Pulitzer jury noted the coverage as “powerful stories marked by thoroughness and compassion.”
Fellow UC Berkeley Journalism School alum Andy Mannix contributed reporting.
“We felt responsible immediately to tell this story,” Hennessey said in the Minnesota Star Tribune’s announcement. “To confirm the facts, to get to the scene, to make the pictures, to make the video, to be up close and to be there.”
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Dean Michael D. Bolden pictured celebrating with Susie Neilson at the San Francisco Chronicle May 4, 2026.
Explanatory Reporting
UC Berkeley Journalism School alumna Susie Neilson shared the Pulitzer Prize for work on the San Francisco Chronicle series “Burned,” which exposes how insurance companies used algorithmic tools that “failed Californians who lost their homes to fire by systematically undervaluing their properties, denying claims and making it impossible for them to rebuild,” according to the Pulitzer announcement.
UC Berkeley Journalism alum and San Francisco Chronicle visuals editor Maggie Beidelman supported the effort.
Neilson was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize last year for a series about deaths from police car chases, also in the San Francisco Chronicle.
International Reporting
UC Berkeley Journalism School alum Garance Burke, global investigative journalist at The Associated Press, shared the Pulitzer Prize for what the jury called “an astonishing global investigation into state-of-the-art tools of mass surveillance created in Silicon Valley, advanced in China and spreading worldwide before returning to America for secret new uses by the U.S. Border Patrol.”
AP video producer and fellow UC Berkeley Journalism alum Serginho Roosblad contributed reporting.
Local Reporting
UC Santa Barbara alum Tess Kenny earned the Pulitzer Prize along with other Chicago Tribune staff for its “powerful coverage of the Trump administration’s militarized immigration sweep of the city.” A California native, Kenny is a general assignment reporter for the Tribune and previously reported for the Monterey Herald and Naperville Sun.
What they’re saying:
“We are extraordinarily proud of our alumni for stories that illuminated facts in dark places and chronicled humanity in the face of brutality,” said Michael D. Bolden, dean of UC Berkeley Journalism. “The Pulitzers are exciting and gratifying, but the real prize is the powerful impact of these stories on people and communities, rights and rule of law.”
Dive deeper:
Another eight UC Berkeley Journalism alumni were honored as part of award-winning or finalist teams.
Read more about the winners and finalists: UC Berkeley Journalism alums honored with 2026 Pulitzer Prizes
This story includes contributions from Marlena Telvick and her piece “UC Berkeley Journalism alums honored with 2026 Pulitzer Prizes.”
