Gabriel Escobar, the editor and senior vice president of The Philadelphia Inquirer, has announced he will be the keynote speaker at Klein College of Media and Communication’s 2021 Winter Graduation Ceremony.

“Gabriel Escobar is one of the finest, most respected editors in the nation. He became The Inquirer’s first Latino editor last year at a time when the newsroom was reckoning with its coverage of communities of color, and he has done a superb job of ensuring The Inquirer is more inclusive and equitable,” said Klein College Dean David Boardman. “His own personal story is inspirational – he came to this country from Colombia as the 5-year-old son of a recently widowed mother – and I could not be more excited to have him inspire our graduates.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer was founded in 1829 and is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the Western Hemisphere. The Philadelphia Inquirer LLC has multiple brand platforms, including Inquirer.com, newspapers, e-editions, apps, newsletters and live events, that reach a growing audience of more than 10 million people a month.

Escobar has extensive experience as both a reporter and news manager. He spent 16 years at The Washington Post as a reporter on the local and national staffs, a foreign correspondent based in South America and as city editor. At the Inquirer he has worked as managing editor, deputy managing editor for Metro and as assistant managing editor for news.  Escobar also worked at The Hartford Courant, the Philadelphia Daily News and The Dallas Morning News, where he was an editorial writer and columnist.

Escobar has said that he cannot wait to address the next generation of media and communication graduates, and is quite familiar with Klein College’s mission and quality. “I am honored to take part in the winter graduation ceremony,” he said. “I work with many professionals  who graduated from Klein, including colleagues at The Philadelphia Inquirer,  and I know that this institution provided them with the skills they needed to succeed.”

Escobar was born in Bogota, Colombia and grew up in New York City. He has a BA in creative writing from Queens College, CUNY, and a masters in journalism from the University of Maryland.