Barbara Stubbs Cochran
Barbara Stubbs Cochran is an award-winning journalist whose career has included top jobs in the print, broadcast and nonprofit worlds.
Cochran is currently president of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation, which is working to build a monument in Washington, D.C., to honor journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Cochran served nine years as the Missouri School of Journalism’s Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Journalism and directed the school’s Washington program, which brings students to the nation’s capital for hands-on learning. At Mizzou, Cochran also worked with the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and the Committee of Concerned Journalists in Washington to continuously improve the practice of journalism through research, consulting and training.
Cochran previously spent 12 years as president of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), where she championed First Amendment rights and journalism ethics. During her tenure there, RTDNA received the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
Cochran began her journalism career as a copy desk trainee and rose to become managing editor of the Washington Star newspaper. She then served as vice president for news at National Public Radio, where she directed the creation of NPR’s Morning Edition.
Cochran later transitioned to television, becoming executive producer of NBC’s Meet the Press before serving as vice president and Washington bureau chief of CBS News as the first woman to head a network bureau In Washington. Over the course of her career, she supervised coverage of major international stories including Watergate and the Persian Gulf War and played a leading role in the coverage of every election and political convention for 24 years.
Cochran has been recognized with numerous awards including The Media Institute’s Freedom of Speech Award, The AWC Matrix Foundation’s International Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Library of American Broadcasting’s Giants of Broadcasting Award, the Radio Television Digital News Association’s First Amendment Award and two DuPont-Columbia Awards.
She has served as a judge for the DuPont-Columbia, George Foster Peabody and Hearst Collegiate Journalism Awards. She’s been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
Cochran has a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.
Gary R. Kremer
Gary R. Kremer is a historian, author and educator who has spent more than five decades researching, documenting and preserving Missouri history. Often referred to as its “unofficial state historian,” he is widely recognized for his scholarship on Missouri history.
A fifth-generation Missourian, Kremer earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Lincoln University in Jefferson City before completing his doctorate in history at American University in Washington, D.C. He began his academic career at Lincoln University, where he taught history before serving as Missouri’s state archivist. He later joined the faculty at William Woods University and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri.
Throughout his career, Kremer has written, coauthored and coedited 12 books and dozens of scholarly articles examining Missouri’s history. He also served as editor-in-chief of the “Missouri Historical Review,” one of the state’s leading publications devoted to historical scholarship.
Kremer spent 21 years as executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, overseeing efforts to preserve historical records, expand research resources and make Missouri’s history more accessible to the public. One of his most significant accomplishments was helping secure $35 million in state bond funding for the Center for Missouri Studies, which opened in Columbia in 2019. The facility houses historical collections, research materials and exhibition spaces that support the study and preservation of Missouri’s past.
His commitment to public history extended beyond the historical society. As a member of the Missouri Bicentennial Commission, Kremer helped guide the statewide commemoration of Missouri’s 200th anniversary in 2021, an initiative that encouraged Missourians to explore the people, events and communities that have shaped the state.
Kremer retired as executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri in 2026 but continues to serve as executive director emeritus and senior fellow at the Center for Missouri Studies.
His contributions to historical scholarship and public service have earned numerous honors, including being named Missouri Life magazine’s 2026 Missourian of the Year. In 2025, the State Historical Society of Missouri renamed its Center for Missouri Studies fellowships in his honor.