At the CAMD graduation celebration on Saturday, May 6, students graduating from the College of Arts, Media and Design in the Class of 2023 will be addressed by John Simons, an alumnus of the School of Journalism and business journalist with three decades of experience, most recently as executive editor of TIME magazine. Now a partner at the Brunswick Group, a global advisory firm focused on critical issues, Simons is a thought leader on business in the 21st century and an advocate for journalism as a vehicle for truth.

Dean Elizabeth Hudson will award Simons a special university citation on the occasion of his remarks to the class of 2023.

At TIME, Simons was responsible for national and business news, as well as the publication’s technology coverage. He also co-hosted TIME100 live events, including panels and interviews with top business leaders, developing

Prior to this, John spent several years at the Wall Street Journal as Deputy Health and Science Editor and Bureau Chief for the Health Business, where he helped guide coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before that, he was the outlet’s Energy Editor for Europe, Middle East and Africa and Deputy Bureau Chief for Management and Careers. Previously, John held senior editorial roles with the International Business Times, The Associated Press and Black Enterprise.

Earlier in his career, John was a staff writer at Fortune magazine from 2001 to 2009, where he covered biotech, pharmaceuticals, and technology-related industries. He wrote about a range of other topics at Fortune, including U.S. immigration reform; the insurance industry’s early embrace of climate change; and he won a Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists in 2007 for a first-person story about taking the first publicly available DNA test that allowed Black Americans to discover genetic links to their African ancestors. 

In 2000, he was a Markle Fellow at the New America Foundation, where he focused on technology policy and economic opportunity in the digital age. John got his start as a professional journalist as an economic policy reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and as a senior editor at U.S. News & World Report.

He lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife and daughter.