Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Profile

Paul F. Conrad, a Cedar Rapids native, started his Pulitzer-prize-winning career in editorial cartooning during his student days at the University of Iowa. While working toward a BA in art (which he received in 1950), Conrad penned political cartoons five days a week for the student newspaper, The Daily Iowan. From the beginning, Conrad displayed a unique ability to tell hard truths with humor.

Since his initial journalistic efforts at the University of Iowa, Conrad has parlayed his talent into a brilliant career, first with The Denver Post, where his work won him a Pulitzer prize, and then with The Los Angeles Times, where he has since earned two more Pulitzers. Today, Conrad's cartoons are syndicated in 200 newspapers across the country and around the world.

Mr. Conrad has won numerous other awards for his work, including five Editorial Cartoon awards from Sigma Delta Chi, a Journalism award from the University of Southern California (1972), two Overseas Press Club awards (1970, 1980), and the Robert F. Kennedy award in 1985.

Conrad was elected by the UI journalism faculty to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication's Hall of Fame in 1969, and he presented the 1982 keynote address at the annual scholarships and awards banquet. He is a life member of the Alumni Association.