2022 Alumni Honoree

Author, sportswriter and commentator, Meadowlark Media and ESPN.com

Howard Bryant is the author of 10 books and has contributed essays to 16 others.

He joined Meadowlark Media in 2021, is an executive producer for HBO’s Back on the Record with Bob Costas and has been a senior writer for ESPN since 2007. In 2017, Bryant served as the guest editor for the Best American Sports Writing anthology. In addition, he has served as the sports correspondent for NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturdaysince 2006.

Previously, Bryant worked at the Washington Post, the Boston Herald, The Record (Hackensack, NJ), the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune.

Bryant has won numerous awards. He is a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award for commentary, and earned the 2016 Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. The Heritage was the recipient of the 2019 Nonfiction Award from the American Library Association’s Black Caucus and the Harry Shaw and Katrina Hazard Donald Award for Outstanding Work in African American Studies awarded by the Popular Culture Association. He is also a two-time Casey Award winner for best baseball book of the year, and was a 2003 finalist for the Society for American Baseball Research Seymour Medal.

In addition, Bryant has appeared in several documentaries and served as a consultant for Baseball: The Tenth Inning, Jackie Robinson, Hemingway, and Muhammad Ali, all directed by Ken Burns; Major League Legends: Hank Aaron, produced by the Smithsonian and Major League Baseball; and College Behind Bars, directed by Lynn Novick.