Newspaper leader to give commencement address

Sandra Mims Rowe, editor of The Oregonian in Portland, Ore., will be the speaker at East Carolina University’s 88th spring commencement on May 10.
Rowe, a 1970 graduate of ECU, will take office next month as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the leading organization of daily newspaper editors in the United States and Canada.

Chancellor Richard Eakin said, “Sandy Rowe is an accomplished and respected leader in American journalism. I am very pleased that such a distinguished ECU graduate has agreed to come back to us for our spring commencement.”

About 2,300 degree candidates are expected for the ceremony, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The public is invited.

The Oregonian is the largest newspaper in the Northwest, with a daily circulation of 360,000 and Sunday circulation 450,000.

Rowe joined The Oregonian in 1994 after 10 years as executive editor and vice president of the Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star in Virginia.

Since 1994 she has been a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board, which selects the Pulitzer Prize winners each year.