The  featured speaker for the 2016 Touchstone Awards on Oct. 27 will be Connie Schultz, a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate, and Professional in Residence at Kent State University.

In 2005, she won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for columns that judges praised for providing “a voice for the underdog and the underprivileged.” Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Politico, Parade, the Atlantic, ESPN Magazine and Democracy Journal.

Also in 20015, Schultz won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Commentary and the National Headliner Award for Commentary. In 2003, she was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing for her series, “The Burden of Innocence,” which chronicled the ordeal of Michael Green, who was imprisoned for 13 years for a rape he did not commit. The week after her series ran, the real rapist turned himself in after reading her stories. The series won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting, the National Headliner Award’s Best of Show and journalism awards from Harvard and Columbia universities.

In 2004, Schultz won the Batten Medal, which honors “a body of journalistic work that reflects compassion, courage, humanity and a deep concern for the underdog.”

Schultz is also a fellow with the Vietnam Reporting Project. Her 2011 series, “Unfinished Business,” explored the long-term impact of Agent Orange in the U.S., and in Vietnam. Recently, the series won the Associated Press Managing Editors Journalism Excellence Award in International Prospective. She has received six honorary degrees, and for the last two years has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror.

Schultz is the author of two books published by Random House: “Life Happens—And Other Unavoidable Truths,” a collection of essays, and “…and His Lovely Wife,” a memoir about her husband Sherrod Brown’s successful 2006 race for the U.S. Senate. She is currently working on her first novel.

Schultz and her husband have four grown children and five grandchildren. They live in Cleveland, Ohio with their rescue dog, Franklin.

The Press Club of Toledo is counting down the days until the 17th annual Touchstone Awards which will be held on Thursday, October 8 at the Toledo Club. Join us as we highlight those media professionals who have displayed an excellence in journalism and community service.

2015 Touchstones: Thursday, October 8

• 5:30pm Grazing and cocktails
• 7:15pm Awards and Program

Those in attendance will enjoy Keynote Speaker, Lew Dickey. With years of experience in the radio and television industry, the founder of Stratford Research, and author of The Franchise — Building Radio Brands, Lew is sure to deliver a keynote that cannot be missed.

The Press Club will bestow several prestigious awards to local media professionals—categories are listed below. To read the full list of nominees for the 2015 Touchstone Awards, click here.

We would also like to thank our sponsors for making this special evening possible—Buckeye Cable System, The Toledo Blade, Dana Holding Corporation, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, Concentrek Group, The Andersons Inc. and Fifth Third Bank.

2015 Touchstone Awards Tickets

To purchase your tickets for this year’s Touchstones, you may call Shaun Hegarty at 419.265.9138 or email touchstone@toledopressclub.com. Ticket prices are listed below. RSVP cards have been send to Press Club of Toledo members.

• $65 – Press Club members
• $75 – Nonmembers
• $45 – Students
• $450 – Table of 6

We look forward to seeing you at the 2015 Touchstone Awards!

The Press Club of Toledo annually recognizes newsmakers and news breakers in the Northwest Ohio region through the prestigious Touchstone Awards.

Chrys Peterson

This year’s ceremony – the club’s 16th Touchstone Awards – will take place on Thursday, Sept. 25 at the Toledo Club.

The Press Club is proud to announce its featured speaker will be Chyrs Peterson, the former anchor at WTOL-TV, Channel 11. Chrys has been a fixture at WTOL and, more importantly, in this community for 20 years.

In February, Chrys left the station to spend more time with her family. While at WTOL, Chrys won a number of awards, including an Emmy Award for her 2011 story “Behind the Badge,” documenting the stress police officers endure on and off the job, as well as Community Service for her breast cancer awareness campaign. She has received three Edward R. Murrow awards for journalism, and awards from the Associated Press, including the 2011 Best Enterprise Reporting award.

Chrys is a Magna Cum Laude graduate from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. She also has a Master’s degree in Organization Leadership from Lourdes College. Her first professional broadcast journalism job was anchoring the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at WHSV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Harrisonburg, followed by anchoring the morning and noon newscasts at WNEP-TV, the ABC affiliate in Wilkes Barre/Scranton, Pa.

In 1994, she joined WTOL, the same year as Jerry Anderson and Robert Shiels, now Channel 11’s chief meteorologist. The trio, along with Sports Director Dan Cummins, who joined the station in 1980, have been the CBS affiliate’s evening news team for a decade. Their 5 p.m. weeknight broadcast was awarded an Emmy in 2012 for Best Newscast.

Since 1995, Chrys has served as Honorary Chairperson for the Northwest Ohio Komen Race for the Cure for Breast Cancer. In that time, the event has grown from 600 to 18,000 participants. This year, she helped to organize a Race for the Cure event in Findlay, which saw 3,100 participants in its inaugural year.

Chrys has served on local boards for the American Red Cross, Komen for the Cure & Make-A-Wish and has received numerous honors for her community work including the “Jefferson Award” (twice), “Milestones” award, “20 Under 40” award, Big Brothers/Big Sisters “Hero” award, “Women of Toledo” award, “Touchstone” award and “Golden Touchstone.”