Lois Wille

Lois Wille (BSJ53, MSJ54) began writing for the Chicago Daily News two years after completing her master’s degree from Medill in 1954. She also attended Medill for her bachelor’s degree, which she earned a year earlier in 1953. While working as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News, Willie wrote extensively about the gap in providing birth control information to women in Illinois, which led to the Pulitzer Prize jury honoring the Chicago Daily News with the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for public service. 

When the Chicago Daily News folded in 1978, Wille joined the Chicago Sun-Times as associate editor. In 1984, Wille became assistant editorial page editor at its rival paper, the Chicago Tribune, rising to the rank of editorial page editor within three years. In 1989 Wille won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, for articles she had written on local issues. She retired from the Tribune in 1991.