Maudlyne Ihejirika

Maudlyne Ihejirika is an award winning, Chicago Sun-Times Urban Affairs Columnist with 30 years experience in Journalism, Public Relations and Government, who currently pens the Sun-Times “Chicago Chronicles,” long-form columns offering diverse narratives and untold stories of inspiring people/places/organizations/issues in Black and Brown communities.  

 

She is immediate past president of both the National Association of Black Journalists Chicago Chapter and the Chicago Journalists Association, and in 2019 was ranked on a list of "The 25 Most Powerful Women In Chicago Journalism." Ihejirika is the author of "Escape From Nigeria: A Memoir of Faith, Love and War," a riveting tale of her family's survival of the brutal Nigerian-Biafran War and miracles that brought them to the U.S. as refugees in 1969 — https://amzn.to/34EFsGt.

     

She holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Iowa and an M.S.J. from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, is a Hall of Fame inductee at both alma maters, and is a member of the prestigious Council of 100 at Northwestern and the Professional Advisory Board of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at University of Iowa.

 

In 28 years with the Sun-Times, she has served as assistant city editor and covered beats from crime and the inner city to housing and education, politics and philanthropy. As Weekend City Editor in 1977, she left to work for Gov. Jim Edgar as press secretary for the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services. In 1999, she left state government to launch the Ihejirika Media & Communications Group, managing media operations for members of the U.S. Congress, Illinois Legislature and City Council.

 

Since returning to the Sun-Times in 2003, her numerous awards include the prestigious Studs Terkel Award, top national and local awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and National Association of Black Journalists, and several civic awards, including the Chicago Defender Woman of Excellence and African Festival of the Arts Community Servant Award. 

 

A highly sought after speaker, including twice serving as a university commencement speaker, she holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Saint Xavier University, is a frequent guest contributor on PBS-TV’s “Chicago Tonight: Week In Review,” and FOX-32’s “Good Day Chicago,” and has appeared as a political analyst on CNN, TV One, ABC, CBS, and NPR; WBEZ, WVON and V103. 

 

Follow her at @Maudlynei on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.