Henry Chu has been named interim curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Currently Nieman’s deputy curator, Chu will start his new role when Curator Ann Marie Lipinski steps down on July 1 after 14 years as head of the foundation.
Chu has played a key role at Nieman, strengthening the foundation’s publications, overseeing an extensive program of seminars and workshops and helping to select and guide the Nieman Fellows, accomplished journalists from around the world who come to Harvard for a year of academic study and professional development.
A graduate of Harvard and a Nieman Fellow himself during the 2014-2015 academic year, Chu has strong ties to the university and the foundation that have bolstered Nieman’s efforts to increase engagement on campus and with its alumni. He joined the Nieman Foundation as deputy curator in July 2024.
“I am deeply honored to serve as interim curator, especially as someone who has benefited so much from Nieman’s fellowship program and its other services to journalism,” Chu said. “Its mission to promote and elevate the standards of journalism is more relevant and necessary than ever. I look forward to working even more closely with the foundation’s dedicated and talented staff in pursuit of that goal, and I’m grateful for the important and transformative work Ann Marie has done to keep Nieman vital.”
Lipinski added: “I have had the privilege of working with Henry both during his Nieman fellowship and his year as deputy curator and have witnessed his deep commitment to Nieman’s mission and to journalism more broadly. I am admiring of and confident in his leadership and in Nieman’s future under his watch.”
Chu began his journalism career at the Los Angeles Times after graduating from Harvard in 1990 with a degree in history and literature. He covered a range of beats in Los Angeles, including transportation, education and local politics.
Beginning in 1998, Chu took on a series of overseas postings for the Times, reporting from more than 30 countries while serving as bureau chief in Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi and London. Before joining the Nieman Foundation last year, he served as the Times’ deputy news editor in London, overseeing breaking news coverage and shepherding the homepage in the middle of the Los Angeles night as well as editing correspondents in other parts of the world.
Chu has won awards for his coverage of China and Europe’s migrant crisis and was part of two L.A. Times teams that won Pulitzer Prizes for breaking news coverage.
In 2016, Chu left the Times for three years to serve as Variety magazine’s London-based international editor. He directed the publication’s coverage of the entertainment industry in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world, including the impact of political and social issues such as Brexit and the #MeToo movement.
He is a former national board member of the Asian American Journalists Association and served on the Harvard Alumni Association Committee to Nominate Overseers and Elected Directors.
Harvard will launch a search for the next Nieman curator in the coming months.
