Michele Weldon is an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

keynote speaker A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

, and assistant professor at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

's Medill School of Journalism.

Education

Michele Weldon received both her BSJ (1979) and MSJ (1980) at

’s Medill School of Journalism.

Career

She began her career as managing editor at the North Shore Magazine in

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second- ...

in 1979. Weldon then moved to associate editor at the Adweek Magazine in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and in 1981 became the Midwest market editor at Fairchild Publications. In July 1984, Weldon became a feature writer and columnist for the

Dallas Times Herald The ''Dallas Times Herald'', founded in 1888 by a merger of the ''Dallas Times'' and the ''Dallas Herald'', was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas (USA) area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, and t ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, where she worked until December 1988. In 1989, she began working for the Chicago Tribune as a regular freelance contributor. Weldon has also been a columnist for West Suburban Living in

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260. History Members of the Potawatomi Native A ...

since 1996. In June 2011, Weldon began work as a columnist for The Huffington Post in culture, women, and media verticals. Weldon has also written for

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

. In addition to her body of work as a freelancer and opinion writer, Weldon has also taught at the Medill School of Journalism from 1996 to 2014, shen she became assistant professor emerita. and has written five nonfiction books. She has also been the owner and instructor of Writing to Save Your Life Workshops since 2000, where she continues to speak at keynotes. In 2011, she began working as the leader of the Public Voices Fellowship at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

through The OpEd Project. In 2016, she became editorial director o
Take The Lead.
She is also a frequent live storyteller and in 2012 was in The Moth Grandslam in Chicago.

Books

*''I Closed My Eyes'' (1999) *''Writing To Save Your Life: How To Honor Your Story Through Journaling'' (2001) *''Everyman News: The Changing American Front Page'' (2008) *''Just Me And My Three Sons (2014) ASIN: B07DF4KR1D'' *''Escape Points: A Memoir'' (2015) *''Act Like You're Having a Good Time: Essays'' (2020), Northwestern University Press,

References

External links

Michele Weldon Home Page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, Michele Living people American women journalists Medill School of Journalism alumni Northwestern University faculty 1958 births American women academics 21st-century American women