Michael Connor is a Senior Program Officer for the Foundation, working chiefly with the Media program. He came to Park in 2015 after a long career in journalism. After graduating from Cornell University in 1975, he began newspaper work as a reporter for The Post-Standard in Syracuse, NY, and eventually became managing editor and executive editor of the paper. In 1988-89, he spent a year at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow before returning to the newsroom in Syracuse. During his tenure, The Post-Standard was one of three finalists for a Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting for a months-long investigation of shoddy health care in New York State’s prison system, a series that led to reforms in Albany. He left the newspaper in 2013 to spend a year in southern France. Upon returning to the US, he assisted with the launch of a nonprofit digital news operation in Ithaca. In addition to previous service on foundation boards in Syracuse, he has volunteered as a literacy tutor and hospice residence caregiver. He also recently received his MFA in creative nonfiction from Bennington College.