Martha Irvine is the faculty adviser for The DePaulia, an award-winning online news site and student newspaper, which includes the Spanish-language La DePaulia. She also teaches journalism courses in news writing and multimedia. Irvine, a native of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, began her full-time journalism career at daily newspapers in Australia and New Zealand. She joined The Associated Press in 1995 and remains a part-time member of the AP’s Global Enterprise Team. Her stories — told in print, video, and photos — have dealt with a broad range of topics, from poverty, education, and climate change to high-tech trends.
Her multimedia work has been recognized by the Webby Awards, the National Edward R. Murrow Awards, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, and the Chicago Headline Club’s Lisagor Awards, among others. She also received a Studs Terkel Award, an honor given to journalists who go beyond official sources to tell the stories of everyday people.
Irvine earned a BA from the University of Michigan and an MS from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. At Columbia, she received a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship, which enabled her to report and write in Mexico, Thailand and Cuba.
Irvine loves teaching and connecting with students. She’s also a fan of time spent with family and friends, travel, dry humor, bicycling, hikes in the woods, swimming in Lake Michigan and gardening.
Selected Publications
- Drugs, death and despair in Trump Country (AP, Aug. 18, 2017)
- In Chicago, a little art studio bridges a great divide (AP, Sept. 26, 2018)
- As teens, ‘AIDS babies’ have a secret to share (AP, Dec. 21, 2003)
- Keeping the peace is survival for Chicago teens and video (AP, May 27, 2018)
- Through kids’ eyes: Virus outbreak brings sadness, fear, joy and video (AP, May 26, 2020)
- Climate change threatens native people and their land (AP, Nov. 1, 2022)