Julia Wallace

Julia Wallace (BSJ78) was inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement in 2006.

Wallace is the Frank Russell Chair at the Walter Cronkite School of Arizona School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Wallace was a top media executive and high-ranking editor at four major newspapers. She spent more than 20 years as a top editor and was the first woman editor-in-chief of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She spent five years as the head of Cox Media Group Ohio, responsible for both the news and business operations.

For Cox Media Group Ohio, Wallace brought together three separate companies —TV, radio and newspaper — into a single converged operation. As a result of the changes, the TV station, WHIO, already the top CBS affiliate in the country, significantly grew its audience and revenue share. The three radio stations and three daily newspapers saw similar success under her leadership.

Previously, Wallace led the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newsroom from 2002-2010. During her tenure, the paper won two Pulitzer Prizes, and she was named Editor of the Year by Editor & Publisher magazine in 2004. Before joining Atlanta, she was managing editor of the Arizona Republic from 1998-2000.

Wallace began her career in Norfolk, Virginia, at the Ledger-Star, and then at the Dallas Times Herald. In 1982, she joined USA Today as a reporter just weeks after the newspaper’s launch and worked her way up to managing editor/special projects.

She joined the Chicago Sun-Times in 1992 as managing editor. She left in 1996 to lead the Salem Statesman Journal in Oregon as executive editor. In 1998, she became managing editor at the Arizona Republic before moving to Atlanta in 2001.