Edward Schumacher-Matos

Edward Schumacher-Matos is currently the Ombudsman of NPR and holds the James Madison Visiting Professorship at Columbia Journalism School.

Before joining NPR, he was a prolific journalist and editor with extensive experience spanning several esteemed publications and roles. He wrote a syndicated weekly column for The Washington Post and served as the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Americas. He also worked for The New York Times as a foreign correspondent in various capacities, including as the Madrid bureau chief and Buenos Aires bureau chief. Additionally, Schumacher-Matos was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team at the Philadelphia Inquirer that covered the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident.

Beyond his journalism career, Schumacher-Matos has been deeply involved in academic and policy circles. He was the Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a Shorenstein Fellow on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy. He is notably a member of the Harvard University Population and Development Center, directing its migration studies program. Furthermore, he is engaged with several prestigious organizations, including the Council on Foreign Relations, the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, and the Inter American Press Association. His academic credentials include a BA from Vanderbilt University and an MA from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Schumacher-Matos’s commitment to community and policy is also evident in his roles outside journalism. He founded the Rumbo chain of Spanish-language daily newspapers in Texas and has contributed to Foreign Affairs and other magazines. His board memberships include positions at IE University Graduate School of Business in Madrid and the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California. His background as a US Army veteran of the Vietnam War and an emigrant from Colombia enriches his diverse professional and personal portfolio.