FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

June 4, 2008

ROBERT HODIERNE '68 HONORED AT GRINNELL COLLEGE ALUMNI REUNION

GRINNELL, IA - Grinnell College recognized the professional accomplishments and service contributions of 12 alumni during Alumni Reunion Weekend, May 28-June 1 on the Grinnell campus. Alumni Award winners are members of reunion classes who have distinguished themselves in their careers and communities and embody Grinnell’s mission of life-long learning and service.

Robert Hodierne, a 1968 graduate of Grinnell College from Arlington, Va., received an Alumni Award as a member of the 40th reunion class. Following is the citation read about Hodierne’s accomplishments: "Self-help experts often encourage us to follow our passion. By following his own, this alumnus has helped us better understand the world in which we live.

At Grinnell, this alumnus pursued a political science degree while keeping busy outside the classroom with the newspaper and yearbook. While war protests roiled the nation, he refused to sit on the sidelines. Instead, he went to Vietnam to cover the war in words and photographs. He was the youngest fully-accredited foreign journalist covering the war. His photos appeared in newspapers and magazines across the nation.

After returning home, he came back to Grinnell to finish his education, and then worked as a writer and editor at newspapers including the Minneapolis Star, Charlotte Observer, and Mercury News. While at the Observer, he was part of a team that produced a series of stories about brown lung; the series earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Robert Kennedy Award.

In 1987, he pursued a different kind of passion: he quit his job to sail a 32-foot sailboat through the South Pacific and on to Japan, where he stayed on to teach English and write. Since 2001, this alumnus has worked as an editor at the Military Times, a newsroom that produces several weekly newspapers and monthly magazines. During his tenure, he has not shied away from difficult positions: in 2006, he backed an editorial calling for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld tendered his resignation just two days later. For his willingness and ability to uncover and share difficult truths, we are proud to honor Robert Hodierne ’68."

Grinnell College is a nationally recognized, private, four year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 25 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs.

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