Dana Priest is the third John S. and James L. Knight Chair in Public Affairs Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She has worked as an investigative reporter for the Washington Post for 30 years covering the intelligence world, U.S. operations and national security issues. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, for reporting on the neglectful conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (2008) and the CIA's secret prisons (2006) and other counterterrorism operations. Is author of two best-selling books. In 2010, her project, “Top Secret America,” covered the buildup in top-secret intelligence organizations in the aftermath of Sept. 11. A unique searchable database of top-secret sites was part of that investigation, which was expanded and published as a book and a “Frontline” documentary released in September 2011.
​
Priest’s focus in Knight Hall is on global security issues which are increasingly important in a digital world, her student-led Press Uncuffed project successfully focused attention on the plight of journalists who are jailed around the world.