Charles Remsberg

Charles Remsberg (BSJ58, MSJ59) was inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement in 2012.

Remsberg, an editor of the Daily Northwestern, had a distinguished career as a journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times and as a leading producer of law-enforcement training materials.

Remsberg began his Northwestern experience as a journalism cherub during high school in 1953. He returned to Medill for college and received a bachelor’s degree in 1958 and a master’s degree in 1959. As managing editor and columnist for the Daily his junior year, Remsberg broke the story of Sherman Wu, a Northwestern student who was depledged by his fraternity for being Asian. The story drew national headlines from The New York Times and Time magazine, and it also inspired Pete Seeger’s protest folk song “The Ballad of Sherman Wu.” Remsberg became editor-in-chief of the Daily the next year.

After graduating, Remsberg worked as a reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times for a year before becoming a full-time freelance writer. He wrote more than 800 articles between 1960 and 1980, specializing in nonfiction stories about major social problems. Most of his stories appeared in major publications like Esquire, Reader's Digest and The New York Times Magazine. During this time he won the Outstanding Public Service Award (1968) by the National Safety Council for an article on abuses in emergency medical care; the Sidney Hillman Award (1969) for outstanding magazine article of the year on an important social issue for one of the first investigative reports on hunger in America; the Penney-Missouri Award (1974) for excellence in women’s-interest journalism for an article on the financial and emotional impact of catastrophic illnesses; and the American Osteopathic Assn. Award (1978) for outstanding magazine article of the year for a profile of a country doctor.

Remsberg’s book "Blood Lessons: What Cops Learn from Life-or-Death Encounters" was published in 2008. It quickly joined his previous books listed among the "10 Best Law Enforcement Books of All Time," as designated by Law Officer Magazine. In 2010, Remsberg received a Commemorative Award from the International Association of Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers, recognizing 30 years of service to law. He currently serves as editor-in-chief and writer for the Force Science Research Center and senior correspondent and special projects director for PoliceOne.com where he writes frequent articles and columns on law enforcement topics.