The Nieman Foundation for Journalism has named veteran journalist Henry Chu ’90 as its interim curator.
Curator Ann Marie Lipinski will step down on July 1 after serving for 14 years, with Harvard planning to launch a search for a permanent curator in the upcoming months.
The Nieman Foundation brings in around two dozen distinguished journalists each year as Nieman fellows to pursue academic study at Harvard, honing knowledge and leadership skills. Nieman also has three publications that align with its mission “to promote and elevate the standards of journalism.”
Chu, who has been the deputy curator at Nieman since last July, previously worked as the deputy news editor of the Los Angeles Times and the international editor of Variety. A history and literature concentrator at the College, Chu returned to Harvard in 2014-2015 as a Nieman fellow—a time he said was “one of the most fulfilling years of [his] career,” adding, “It really brought home to me why I love journalism and bred in me a love of the Nieman Foundation and what it does for journalists.”
Chu joined the LA Times after his college graduation, covering transportation, education, and local politics before taking a series of overseas assignments. He reported on more than 30 countries and served as bureau chief in Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi, and London. While at the LA Times, he was recognized as a part of two teams that received Pulitzer Prizes for breaking news coverage.
During a three-year stint at Variety, based in London, Chu led coverage of the entertainment industry in Europe, Asia, and other regions, including coverage of social issues such as the #MeToo movement. He returned to the LA Times in 2020 as the deputy news editor.
As the deputy curator at the Nieman Foundation, Chu has helped to select cohorts of Nieman fellows, advised on publications, and run seminar and workshop programming.
In a statement, Lipinski said she “had the privilege of working with [Chu] both during his Nieman fellowship and his year as deputy curator and [has] witnessed his deep commitment to Nieman’s mission and to journalism more broadly.”
Chu said Lipinski “has really strengthened the program…and the fellowship itself.” He also spoke of the importance of journalism and the Nieman Foundation’s mission in the current political climate.
One of Nieman’s publications, Nieman Reports, aims to “address and inform readers as to what's happening to press freedom around the world,” he said. He pointed to Nieman Reports’ December 2024 cover story, “Dear America,” which asked journalists, including Nieman fellows from countries where authoritarian regimes have threatened press freedom, “to tell us, here in the U.S., how to maintain integrity and continue to press for our rights as journalists, our importance in a democratic society and upholding the freedoms we exercise and hold dear.”
Chu said he looks forward to fostering a stronger fellowship alumni network with digital communication and to welcoming the new cohort of Nieman fellows. “It’s always a sense of anticipation and excitement for the arrival of the new fellowship cohort, and that, to me, after this one year of being deputy curator, makes this job and being at the Nieman Foundation so gratifying,” he said.
