Margaret Sullivan began as an intern reporter at The Buffalo News and, nineteen years later, became its editor in chief.   She is the first woman, and only the sixth person, to serve as the paper's chief editor in its 130-year history. She is a native of Lackawanna, and was the editor of her high school newspaper at Nardin Academy.

A graduate of Georgetown University, she earned her masters degree, with distinction, at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where she is a member of the school's Hall of Achievement.   Her career has included stints as metro columnist, government reporter, city desk and features editor, and managing editor.  She was the Western New York freelance correspondent for the New York Times, has written for national magazines and served four times as a Pulitzer Prize juror. She chaired the First Amendment committee for the American Society of News Editors and is now the co-chair of ASNE's Leadership Development Committee, and a director of that national organization.

As editor, she established The News' first investigative reporting team and led the development of the region's leading media Web site.  The News' journalism has - for seven of the past nine years -- earned the Distinguished Community Service award from the state publishers association, recognizing outstanding reporting on poverty, school inequity, and Buffalo's struggling economy.

In her spare time, she plays tennis, teaches writing at Buffalo State College and is working on her first novel. She has two children -- a first year law student and a college freshman.