Seymour Topping (Inducted 1997)

Topping has enjoyed a long and distinguished career with the New York Times as both a reporter (mostly as a foreign correspondent) and editor. He began at the Times in 1959 and was the paper's Managing Editor from 1977 to 1986.

In 1987, Topping turned his focus to helping create the New York Times Regional Newspapers Group. He envisioned - and then made it happen - a network where all of the chain's papers could share features and graphics. It was through this network that he helped smaller newspapers understand the role and importance of features. Topping, who served as President of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1992-93, was appointed administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes in 1993. He also is a Professor of Journalism in Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Lynn Kinney, Editorial Director of the Features Production Center (a department of the Regional Newspaper Group) says of Topping: "He believes that features play such an important role in newspapers. We all talked about how he would lift you to highest level of vision. We all felt very important in this operation. We felt like we absorbed greatness by being around him."