Marty Baron ’76 to Join Lehigh University as Distinguished Fellow

Renowned Journalist Marty Baron to Join Lehigh University as President’s Distinguished Fellow

Lehigh University has announced that Marty Baron, a distinguished journalist and former executive editor of The Washington Post, will assume the role of President’s Distinguished Fellow in the spring semester of 2027. This appointment marks Baron as the second individual to hold this prestigious position.

During his tenure as President’s Distinguished Fellow, Baron will actively engage with the university’s students, faculty, and broader community. His involvement will include participating in a public talk and panel, visiting classes, and conducting a discussion with The Brown and White, Lehigh’s student newspaper, where he once served as editor-in-chief.

Baron, a seasoned speaker, last visited Lehigh in December 2024 as part of the Compelling Perspectives series. This series, in 2024, focused on the role of media in today’s world (source).

“Marty Baron’s distinguished career is such a great example of the importance of journalism and its process of questioning, investigating and navigating complexity to seek and uncover truth,” stated President Joseph J. Helble ’82. “Students across all of Lehigh’s colleges and fields of study will benefit from Marty’s perspective and experience, and we are fortunate to have him share both with our community.”

Reflecting on his time at Lehigh, Baron remarked, “My four years at Lehigh as a student were a formative experience, providing me with invaluable preparation for a long career in journalism. I was honored to be invited back to campus by President Helble, and I look forward to sharing with students what I’ve learned over the last 50 years about a profession that presents both enormous opportunities and seemingly limitless challenges.”

Baron retired from The Washington Post in February 2021, concluding over eight years in a prominent leadership role. He authored the book “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post,” released in 2023. His visits to Lehigh have been frequent, including a celebration for the 125th anniversary of The Brown and White and a screening of “Spotlight”, a film about The Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Church, which led to a Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2003.

Under Baron’s leadership, newsrooms have won an impressive 18 Pulitzer Prizes, with accolades from The Miami Herald, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post. In 2025, he was recognized as a World Press Freedom Hero by the International Press Institute and International Media Support. In 2026, GBH, Boston’s public media organization, honored him with the inaugural GBH Impact Award.

Throughout his career, Baron held key editorial roles at The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times before leading The Miami Herald and The Boston Globe. He joined The Washington Post as executive editor in 2013.

Baron, who was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during Lehigh’s 146th Commencement in 2014, is a Tampa native and holds both a bachelor of arts and an MBA from Lehigh. He began his journalism career at The Miami Herald after graduating in 1976.

The President’s Distinguished Fellowship, established in 2025, highlights Lehigh University’s commitment to equipping students for a complex world by inviting influential leaders like Baron to share their insights on pertinent societal issues.