The Wall Street Journal reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist based in San Francisco who writes about artificial intelligence and Google will return to her alma mater in May to address candidates for master’s degrees in Elon University’s Class of 2026.
An Elon University alumna whose work with the Wall Street Journal was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist will deliver the Commencement address in May to graduate students in the Class of 2026.
Journalist and author Katherine Blunt ’15 will address candidates for the Master of Arts in Higher Education, Master of Education in Innovation, Master of Science in Accounting, Master of Science in Business Analytics and Master of Business Administration in an Alumni Gym evening ceremony on May 20.
“Katie Blunt embodies the very best of what an Elon education makes possible. Her outstanding reporting on some of the most complex and consequential issues of our time reflects a commitment to truth, rigor and public service that began right here on our campus,” said Elon President Connie Ledoux Book. “We are deeply proud of the way she uses her voice to inform the public, strengthen democracy and illuminate the forces shaping our future.”
Blunt is a Wall Street Journal reporter based in San Francisco who covers Google and how artificial intelligence is reshaping search, along with related stories such as the rapid data-center buildout and its implications for the power grid. She previously covered power, renewable energy and utilities for the Journal, with reporting focused on the risks facing Western utilities, including catastrophic wildfires.
Her coverage with colleagues of Pacific Gas & Electric was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and earned top journalism honors including a Gerald Loeb Award.
Blunt is the author of “California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—and What It Means for America’s Power Grid,” a national bestseller and the 2022 Golden Poppy Award winner for nonfiction. Prior to joining the Journal in 2018, she served as a business reporter at the Houston Chronicle and, before that, as a transportation reporter for the San Antonio Express-News.
“I’m honored to have been chosen to address this year’s class of graduate students,” Blunt said of her invitation to deliver Commencement remarks. “I hope to inspire them as much as my time at Elon inspired me, and may Elon continue to grow in what it has to offer students of every age.”
A journalism and history double major who served as news editor of The Pendulum, Blunt received a Lumen Prize while at Elon University and spent her final two years as an undergraduate immersed in research that focused on how Adolf Hitler was described in major American newspapers from 1923 to 1933, presenting her studies at two academic conferences for history and communications.
About Elon University
Elon University is a nationally recognized leader in engaged, experiential learning that prepares graduates to be creative, resilient, ambitious and ethical citizens of our global culture.
At Elon, more than 7,000 students learn through hands-on experiences and close working relationships with faculty and staff whose priorities are teaching and mentoring. The curriculum is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences with emphasis on global experiences and career development. More than 70 undergraduate majors are complemented by professional and graduate programs in law, business, education and health care. Elon is ranked No. 1 for excellence in undergraduate teaching by U.S. News & World Report.
Elon’s academic divisions include Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences; the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business; the School of Communications; the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education; the School of Health Sciences; and the School of Law, with programs in Greensboro and Charlotte, North Carolina.