Margaret Sullivan is the fifth public editor appointed by The New York Times. She writes about the Times and its journalism in a frequent blog – the Public Editor’s Journal — and in a twice-monthly print column in the Sunday Review section. The public editor’s office also handles questions and comments from readers and investigates matters of journalistic integrity. The public editor works independently, outside of the reporting and editing structure of the newspaper; her opinions are her own.

Ms. Sullivan was editor and vice president of The Buffalo News before being named as Times public editor in September 2012. She was the first woman to serve as the editor and as the managing editor of The News, after working as a reporter and columnist there. As editor, Ms. Sullivan focused the paper’s reporting on poverty, economic development and inequities in public education, and established its first investigative team.

Ms. Sullivan was appointed to the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2011 and has been a juror four times, serving as the chairwoman of the distinguished commentary jury in 2006. She was elected twice as a director of the American Society of News Editors and has led its First Amendment committee.

A native of Lackawanna, N.Y., Ms. Sullivan is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she is a member of its Hall of Achievement.