Andrea Simakis

Reporter

Andrea Simakis spent more than 20 years at The Plain Dealer covering everything from pop culture to wrongful convictions. Her work moved people to write an Ohio governor, earning a man an early release from prison, and prompted a local college to offer a scholarship in honor of forgotten women murdered by a serial killer. 

Simakis was a Kiplinger Fellow at The Ohio State University and was chosen as one of 29 journalists worldwide to study at Harvard University as a Nieman Fellow. She is a frequent lecturer at Case Western Reserve University where she teaches courses on criticism and narrative non-fiction writing. ​ 

Her national awards include the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for her magazine profile of a lawyer who defends abused and neglected children in juvenile court; a National Headliner Award for her profile of Cleveland playwright Eric Coble as he shepherded his first play to Broadway, and the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for her magazine narrative on the plight of a diesel mechanic whose one punch earned him two years in prison.

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