Biographical Info of Stephen Schewel

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Steve Schewel graduated magna cum laude from Duke in 1973. He earned a master’s in English from Columbia University in 1974 and a Ph.D. in education from Duke in 1982.

In 1983, he founded the Durham-based Independent newspaper. The weekly paper has won some of the most prestigious awards in American journalism, including the George Polk Award for environmental reporting, the Investigative Reporters and Editors national award, the H.L. Mencken Writing Award, and the Thurgood Marshall Award. Schewel stepped down as publisher in 1999, but continues to be president and board chair of the company that publishes The Independent.

In 2004 Schewel was elected to the Durham Public Schools' Board of Education and now serves as vice-chair. A former English teacher and community organizer, Schewel serves on a number of boards in the local community and coaches soccer at Brogden Middle School.

Schewel began teaching courses through the Hart Leadership Program in 2000. Since that time, he has taught “Moral Leadership in Vietnam” and “Leadership, Policy and Change.” He currently co-teaches a course with Alma Blount entitled “Border Crossing: Leadership, Values Conflict and Public Life.”

Stephen Schewel