Thomas Curley, president and chief executive officer of the Associated Press, is the recipient of the 2005 RIT Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing. He will receive the award—presented annually by Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Print Media—on April 26 at 3:30 p.m. at Ingle Auditorium on the RIT Campus. The Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing, named for one of America's great patriot printers, recognizes outstanding contributions made to the publishing industry. Curley becomes the 25th recipient of the award. Curley has led the Associated Press, the world's largest news organization, since June of 2003. Under Curley, AP is evolving from a wire service to an interactive global news network. "We intend for the Associated Press to be the first words people say when they think of news," Curley says. Prior to leading the Associated Press, Curley was president and publisher of USA Today, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. Curley was the original news staffer on the project that led to the creation of USA Today. He worked in every department of the newspaper and in 1986 became USA Today's sixth president and in 1991 added the title of publisher. Curley has long standing ties with RIT and the Rochester community. In 1972, Curley began working at one of the local newspapers, Gannett's Times-Union, as a night city/suburban editor. He became director of information for Gannett in 1976 and began coordinating Gannett's research projects. Curley earned a master's degree in business administration from RIT in 1977 and is currently a member of RIT's Board of Trustees. "As both a publishing innovator and champion of a free press, Thomas Curley exemplifies the spirit of the RIT Isaiah Thomas Award in Publishing," says Michael Kleper, Paul and Louise Miller Distinguished Professor at RIT. "His contributions to the newspaper industry are truly outstanding, and we are very pleased to have him at RIT for a day of activities that will involve the campus community." During his visit at RIT, Curley will take part in a panel discussion on the topic—Is there freedom of information in America? Curley has been recognized as a leading advocate for the free flow of government information. He has observed that the government has become more secretive, despite the Freedom of Information Act, sunshine laws and other forms of information access guaranteed to U.S. citizens. Among the other panelists are Grant Cos, RIT professor in the College of Liberal Arts; Bob Finnerty, Chief Communications Officer, RIT University News; Bob Freeman, director of the Committee on Open Government in NY; Karen Magnuson, editor of the Democrat and Chronicle; and Chuck Samuels, news director at 13WHAM-TV; and Rep. Louise Slaughter, 28th Congressional District. Norm Silverstein, president of WXXI-TV will serve as the panel moderator. The panel discussion is from 10:30 a.m. to noon on April 26 in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science auditorium.