Reporter and senior editor, ProPublica
Regional Judge

Jodi Cohen is an investigative reporter and senior editor at ProPublica. She joined the non-profit newsroom in 2017 after 14 years at the Chicago Tribune, where she covered higher education and helped expose a secret admissions system at the University of Illinois. Cohen’s investigations have led to changes in state laws and policies and contributed to the release of a teenager from detention. Her work has been recognized with many national honors, including the Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism, the Education Writers Association Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize, the Investigative Reporters & Editors Award, the Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics, the ONA Award for Investigative Data Journalism and the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism. She was also honored with the Studs Terkel Award, which recognizes journalists whose careers have been driven by service and connection to their communities. A proud Wolverine, she is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a former managing editor of the student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. Based in Chicago, this is Cohen’s first year as a Livingston Awards judge.