Beyond the Byline: Distinguished recognition

The college alma mater of Daily Herald Diversity Editor Madhu Krishnamurthy has recognized her as one of seven Distinguished Alumni for 2021.

The University of Central Oklahoma honored Krishnamurthy and the other recipients at a recent campus luncheon.

Krishnamurthy, who says her interest in journalism stirred at the age of 14 as she watched round-the-clock coverage of the Persian Gulf War, graduated from UCO in 1998 with a bachelor of arts in newspaper journalism. She began her career as a reporter for the Edmond, Oklahoma, Sun before joining the Daily Herald in 2000 as a reporter on the Lake County staff.

Over the course of her 21 years with the newspaper, she has covered communities throughout the suburbs, written on countless human interest, political and diversity-related topics, and developed a special concentration in education coverage.

As Diversity Editor, she writes a weekly "Suburban Mosaic" column chronicling events and individuals from the rich variety of cultural backgrounds represented in the suburbs.

Krishnamurthy teaches journalism at Columbia College in Chicago and is the immediate past president of the Chicago Headline Club, the nation's largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. A first-generation immigrant to the U.S., she speaks four languages.

She has won numerous regional and state awards, including a recent first-place citation from the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association for coverage of social issues.