John Curley

John Curley was head of Gannett News Service, during which time the news service won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The first editor of "USA Today", Curley was a member of Gannett's Board of Directors from 1983 until his retirement. He retired from Gannett in January 2001 after more than 30 years with the company. During that time, he served as an editor at the Rochester Times-Union in Rochester, NY; as editor and later publisher of the Courier-News in Bridgewater, NJ; and later as publisher of the News-Journal in Wilmington, DE. In May 1996, he was selected as chairman of the Newspaper Association of America. In 1999, he was made an honorary alumnus of Penn State where he teaches courses in news writing, specialty reporting and issues in journalism. Additionally, the sports journalism department is named in his honor.

Curley is a 1960 graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He earned a Master's Degree from Columbia University in 1963.

His brother Tom Curley is the current president and chief executive officer of the Associated Press.