Al Neuharth Library

Honoree

Al Neuharth

Neuharth was born in 1924 in Eureka, South Dakota. After graduating from Alpena High School, Neuharth served as a combat infantryman in World War II and earned a Bronze Star. He attended the University of South Dakota after the war, and in 1950 he graduated with a journalism degree. Since 1950, Neuharth has held many important positions at The Associated Press in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the Miami Herald, the Detroit Free Press and Gannett. Through dedication, Neuharth worked his way up in Gannett from 1963 to 1979. He served as a general manager of two New York locations, president of Gannett Florida, president and chief executive officer and chairman of Gannet.

In 1982, while at the head of Gannett, Neuharth launched USA Today. The goal was to provide the nation’s first general-interest national newspaper when typically only a single local newspaper was available. USA Today was colorful and bold and it featured large diagrams, charts, photographs and short edgy writing. These innovations allowed USA Today to stand out from the typical papers.

Neuharth retired from Gannett in 1989 at age 65. Today, he is senior advisory chairman of the Freedom Forum, which he founded in 1991, he is the author of eight books and he writes “Plain Talk,” a weekly column for USA Today.

Facility History

The Al Neuharth Library is centrally located on campus inside Weimer Hall which houses the College of Journalism and Communications.