Program Staff

 

Director

 

Dave Umhoefer

Dave is a La Crosse, Wisconsin, native. He was named O’Brien Fellowship director in May 2017. He also teaches investigative reporting in the Diederich College of Communication. His 32-year career as a reporter and editor at The Milwaukee Journal and Journal Sentinel culminated in a 2008 Pulitzer Prize.

 

 

Graduate Program Assistants                  

 

Vanessa Rivera

Vanessa Rivera is a second-year graduate student studying digital communication strategies at Marquette. In 2021-22, she contributed to O'Brien Fellow Guy Boulton's series on health care solutions. During her time as an intern and through the summer, Rivera was also a morning news producer at TMJ4. There, she worked overnights, curating newscasts for the morning throughout the week and weekend. In 2022, Rivera earned her B.A. in journalism and digital media from Marquette. She decided to come back for her master's to further her education and continue exploring the world of journalism and communication as a whole.

                                  

Hannah Hernandez

Hannah Hernandez is a first-year graduate student studying communication and media studies. In 2022-23, she contributed to O'Brien Fellow Lauren Lindstrom's series on unsafe rental housing. Hernandez is continuing her O'Brien reporting as she returns as an intern for the 2023-24 year, reporting with O'Brien Fellow Pamela K. Johnson and her series on justice and water. Hernandez was also an assistant news editor at the Marquette Wire. She graduated in May 2023 with a B.A. in journalism and a double minor in writing-intensive English and Spanish from Marquette. With journalism, Hernandez wants to use her words to make a change in the world and shine a light on things that are swept under the rug. She wants to put a microphone on those who are speaking but are not heard.

                        

Key Partners

 

Greg Borowski

Greg Borowski is the executive editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Projects he’s overseen have won the top honors in journalism, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Worth Bingham Prize, the George Polk Award, the Goldsmith Prize, the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, the Barlett & Steele Awards and the Investigative Reporters and Editors competition. Before moving into editing in 2008, he won numerous awards as a reporter at the Journal Sentinel, and at newspapers in Michigan and Indiana. A Milwaukee native, Borowski is a graduate of Marquette University.