February 28, 2003 -- Arthur Sulzberger Jr., chairman of the New York Times Co. and publisher of The New York Times, has won the 2003 RIT Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing, sponsored by Xerox Corp. He will receive the honor—presented annually by Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Print Media—on April 7 at the On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing Strategy Conference and Exposition at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.   The Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing, named for one of America’s great patriot printers, recognizes outstanding contributions made to the publishing industry. Sulzberger becomes the 24th recipient of the award.   Sulzberger is credited with many significant accomplishments at The New York Times. Under his direction, the newspaper introduced color; created New England and Washington editions printed at remote locations; and redesigned and expanded the Sunday and daily business sections, Sunday Magazine, the metro section and the television section. Sulzberger also expanded the outlets for content into many new media areas, including NYTimes.com. He was involved in planning the newspaper’s automated color printing and distribution facilities in Edison, N.J., and at College Point in Queens, N.Y. He was elected to the board of directors of the New York Times Co. and named chairman in 1997. "Arthur Sulzberger Jr. is a leading architect of the modern newspaper," says Michael Kleper, Paul and Louise Miller Distinguished Professor at RIT. "He has created a blueprint for the construction of new media delivery systems based firmly on the underlying value of New York Times content. His strategies are considered a model for others in the newspaper publishing business who are contemplating the complexities of cross-media publishing." "Digital technology has been a transformational force in virtually every corner of the publishing world," said Ursula M. Burns, president, Business Group Operations, Xerox Corp.  "Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. has used the technology to maintain his newspaper's leadership position in the world of journalism." Publishing is one of five segments in Xerox's Worldwide Graphic Arts Industry group, which is helping to lead the industry's transition from traditional printing to The New Business of Printing—just-in-time and one-to-one—enabled by powerful digital technologies and the Internet. The RIT Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing is named in tribute to an early leader of the American printing industry. In 1779, Isaiah Thomas established The Massachusetts Spy at a print shop known as "the sedition factory" by the British colonial government. Legend has it that Thomas rode with Paul Revere to rouse the militia for the battles of Lexington and Concord. He continued his publishing career after the Revolutionary War, and in 1810 wrote The History of Printing in America, regarded as the basic source of information on early American printing and publishing. The Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing was presented to Mr. Sulzberger’s father, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, former Chairman and CEO of the New York Times Co., in 1984. Recent recipients of the award include Tim O’Reilly, president of O’Reilly & Associates; John W. Seybold, founder of the Seybold Consulting Group; William Burleigh, chairman of E.W. Scripps Co.; Gary B. Pruitt, president and CEO of McClatchy Co.; and Dona Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, former president of Nicaragua. Internationally recognized as a leader in computing, imaging, technology, fine and applied arts, and education of the deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology enrolls 15,000 full- and part-time students in more than 250 career-oriented and professional programs. RIT’s School of Print Media, considered among the best of its kind in the world, offers programs in graphic media, printing systems, and traditional and electronic publishing. For the past decade, U.S. News and World Report has ranked RIT as one of the nation’s leading comprehensive universities. RIT is also included in Yahoo Internet Life’s Top 100 Wired Universities, Fisk’s Guide to America’s Best Colleges, as well as Barron’s Best Buys in Education.   Xerox Corp. makes the digital work world work better with an array of innovative document solutions, services and systems—including color and black-and-white printers, digital presses, multifunction devices and digital copiers—designed for offices and production-printing environments. It also offers associated supplies, software and support.   For more information about Xerox, visit www.xerox.com/news. XEROX, The Document Company and the digital X are trademarks of Xerox Corp.