Each year, MIPA presents the Golden Pen Award to an outstanding adviser of a scholastic student media outlet. It is the highest honor MIPA bestows on a current adviser. To win the award, an adviser is judged according to documentation and evidence — in portfolio form — provided by students. The recipient is chosen by a committee of previous Golden Pen honorees. This annual deadline for this contest is in February.
MIPA launched the Golden Pen Award in 1952 as one of several ways to memorialize Donal Hamilton Haines, a University of Michigan Department of Journalism professor who served as MIPA’s director from its early days until 1950. Haines also advised U-M’s student chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, now known as the Society of Professional Journalists, which was the key organizer of MIPA’s first conference on May 22, 1922. Sigma Delta Chi honored the first Golden Pen winners with a golden “key” or pin of a quill, a tradition MIPA continues.
Nominate an Adviser
- Deadline: Feb. 13, 2026
- Complete the online nomination form here (opens in a new window)
- Preview the application form – You must complete our online entry form, but here’s a Word copy of the questions we ask
- Note for students considering a nomination: The MIPA office has all nominations since 2012 on file. If your adviser has been previously nominated for the Golden Pen, this previous portfolio might have important information you can use. An adviser may only be honored with the Golden Pen Award once in their career.
Nomination Requirements
To nominate an adviser for this award, use the nomination form to submit the following:
- Information about the adviser.
- A letter of nomination from the editor from the student staff that includes reasons for the nomination and a description of the nominee’s responsibilities for student media staff(s) and/or classes.
- Documentation to promote the nominee, which should include:
- listing of staff and publication awards, honors — state, national, regional;
- a listing of the adviser’s honors and level of involvement in related state and national professional organizations;
- citations of leadership and example set (these could be testimony from former students majoring in college journalism or former students who are professional journalists);
- description of the adviser’s role in the development and/or advancement of the present journalism program at your school.
- Letters of support from administrators, fellow teachers, former students, other advisers and knowledgeable parties.
- A picture of your adviser. This should be a high-resolution image of at least 200 dpi resolution — not an image taken from Facebook.
Previous Honorees
1950s
1952
Thelma McAndless – The Roosevelt School at Michigan State Normal College (Eastern Michigan University)
1953
Doris Trott – Grosse Pointe High School
1954
Mattie Crump – Arthur Hill High School
Florence Day – Waterford Twp. High School
1955
Ruth Browne – High School of Commerce
James Ostrum – Roosevelt High School
1956
Sister Mary Hugh, RSM – Our Lady of Mercy High School
1957
Jean Densmore – Jackson High School
Vida Griffin – Birmingham High School
James I. Morey – Central High School
1958
Eva Marie Van Houton – Mumford High School
Clare T. Dean – Petoskey High School
Dorothy Mason – T.L. Handy High School
1959
Robert Beauchamp – Central High School
Anne White – Fordson High School
Evelyn Burke – Central High School
1960s
1960
Robert Granville – Ann Arbor High School
A. Vernon Williams – Traverse City High School
Myron Horowitz – Redford High School
Guy Jameson – Birmingham High School
1961
Marguerite Hammersmith – Graveraet High School
Elizabeth McDonald – Plymouth High School
1962
Mary Glenn Anderson – Port Huron High School
Lucy Dillon – Northern High School
1963
Marie Tynan – Southwestern High School
William Murray – Muskegon Heights High School
Ruth Winte – Denby High School
1964
Charles Kaufman – Munford High School
Clare Vivian – Marysville High School
1965
Clair Field – Ann Arbor High School
Sister Ann Lucille – Sacred Heart Academy
Ruth Carlson – Kingsford High School
Dorthy Perrine – Iron Mountain High School
Agnes Sartoris – Bessemer High School
1966
Rodger Gow – Cass Technical School
Lee Peel – Farmington High School
Albertine Loomis – Honolulu, Hawaii
1967
Jean Procaskey – Ann Arbor High School
William J. Finlan – Gwinn High School
Tom Hammel – Seaholm High School
Isadore Rosen – Kimball High School
1968
Malcolm Wright – Highland Park High School
Harry Nuckollis – Ludington High School
Eric Warden – Univerity High School
1969
David Braendle – Central High School
George F. Crowe – Berkley High School
John F. Mcnamara – Ferris State College
Vaughn Hoogasian – Oakland Community College
1970s
1970
C. Marshall Matlock – Arthur Hill High School
1971
William Harrison – Muskegon Community College
Sr. Elizabeth Rose – St. Mary Cathedral High School
Paul Kosmensky – University of Michigan
1972
Florence Beier – Jackson Parkside High School
1973
Bob Button – Grosse Pointe South High School
1974
John Larsen – Greenville High School
1975
Jean Wandle – Jackson Parkside High School
1976
Mary Seidl – Menominee High School
1977
Larry Mack – Jackson High School
1978
Patsy Procuro – Saginaw High School
1979
Carolyn Scharret – South Lyon High School
1980s
1980
Nancy Patterson – Portland High School
1981
Gloria Olman – Utica High School
1982
Janet Mendler – Livonia Stevenson High School
1983
Bonnie Brown – Battle Creek Central High School
1984
Patrick Schroeder – Grand Ledge High School
1985
Mary Reinke – Howell High School
1986
Lorraine Reuther – St. Clair Shores South Lake High School
1986
Kenson Siver – Southfield High School
1987
Al Salmi – Gladstone High School
1988
Diane Herder – Laingsburg High School
1989
Cynthia Haas – East Detroit High School
1990s
1990
Pamela Bunka – Fenton High School
1991
Ivan Ford – Glen Lake High School
1992
David Smith – Lamphere High School
1993
Mary Zegers – Athens High School
1994
Sandra Altemann – Troy High School
1995
Jane Haslett – South Lyon High School
Amy Hutchinson – Midland High School
1996
Nancy Lemmen – Grayling High School
1997
Elaine Shapiro – Troy High School
1998
Jeff Nardone – Grosse Pointe South High School
1999
Debbie Almasy – Lakewood High School
Ann Ferrario – South Lake High School
2000s
2000
Lynn Strause – East Lansing High School
2001
Christine Kurtz – Traverse City Central High School
2002
Patricia Tessmer – Pinckney High School
2003
Rod Satterthwaite – Dexter High School
Ellie Sharrow – Flushing High School
2004
Warren Kent – Mona Shores High School
Darrick Puffer – Flint Kearsley
2005
Patrice Hornak – Ithaca High School
2006
Tisha Pankop – Kalamazoo Loy Norix High School
2007
Missi Yeomans – Traverse City Central High School
2008
Julie Price – Haslett High School
2009
Brian Wilson – Waterford Kettering High School
2010s
2010
Dave Legg – Novi High School
Tracy Rosewarne (Anderson) – Ann Arbor Community High School
2011
Kim Kozian – L’Anse Creuse High School North
Nikki Schueller – North Farmington High School
2012
Amanda Thorpe – Portage Community High School
2013
Ben Harwood – Seaholm High School
2014
Julia Satterthwaite – Rochester High School
2015
Lydia Cadena – Novi High School
2016
James Woehrle – Midland High School
2017
Elizabeth Cyr – Stockbridge High School
2018
Chad Sanders – Lansing Everett High School
2019
C.E. Sikkenga – Grand Haven High School
2020s
2020
Ava Butzu – Grand Blanc High School
2021
Sara-Beth Badalamente – Ann Arbor Huron High School
2022
Kaitlin Edgerton – Grosse Pointe South High School
2023
Cammie Hall – H. H. Dow High School
2024
Roger Smith – Lake Orion High School