Henry Chu ’90 Named Permanent Nieman Foundation Curator

Henry H. Chu ’90 will assume a permanent role as curator for the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, the University announced on Wednesday.

Chu, a longtime journalist for the Los Angeles Times, had been serving as the foundation’s interim curator since July 2025. He previously served as deputy curator and was a Nieman fellow during the 2014-2015 academic year.

Chu succeeds Ann Marie Lipinski who stepped down last summer after 14 years as the former curator of the Nieman Foundation. He will be the ninth curator in the foundation’s history.

“I am delighted that Henry has agreed to serve as the Nieman Foundation for Journalism’s next curator,” University Provost John F. Manning ’82 wrote in the press release. “His deep commitment to his craft and to mentoring journalists exemplifies the foundation’s mission of promoting and elevating the standards of journalism worldwide.”

Since 1938, the Niemaan Foundation has brought more than 1,700 journalists from 100 countries to Harvard for a year of study. As curator, Chu will oversee the selection and mentoring of Nieman fellows as well as the foundation’s three publications — Nieman Lab, Nieman Reports, and Nieman Storyboard.

Chu, who will begin his permanent role on August 3, graduated summa cum laude from the College with a degree in History and Literature. He lived in Mather House.

In an interview with The Crimson, Chu said that the University undertook an extensive search process that began in December and included soliciting feedback from leaders across the news industry.

Chu said that he was excited to continue leading the foundation “at a time of great flux for the news industry.”

“I’m absolutely thrilled and humbled to be leading such a great organization,” Chu said in an interview with The Crimson. “I was a Nieman Fellow myself a dozen years ago, and I know just how special this place is, and what the Nieman Foundation can do to help bolster journalism throughout the world.”

Chu has more than three decades of reporting experience in more than 30 countries. He began his career at the Los Angeles Times, where he covered local politics for two teams that won Pulitzer Prizes for breaking-news coverage in 1995 and 1998. He later served as bureau chief in Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi, and London.

He also worked at Variety, where he led the publication’s entertainment-industry coverage globally.

John Harwood, chair of the Nieman Foundation’s advisory board, said in the release that Chu’s experience will be an asset to him as he continues to lead the organization.

“Henry Chu brings an ideal set of skills and experiences to his role as the next curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism,” Harwood wrote.

“As a Harvard graduate and former Nieman Fellow himself, he has deep knowledge of the University and can speak with authority about the foundation and the immense challenges journalism faces at this moment,” he added.

Chu said he hopes to use the foundation to convene journalists, academics, and policymakers to tackle challenges facing the industry while strengthening ties with current students.

“I hope that Nieman can be even more engaged on campus than it has been in the past to work with different parts of the university and also with the student body, so that we can fulfill our mission of promoting and elevating the standards of journalism,” he said.

—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.

—Staff writer Risha Sinha can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at rishas.13.