Debra Adams Simmons

Debra Adams Simmons, executive editor for culture at National Geographic Magazine, was a 2016 fellow of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. She was managing editor and editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland for seven years before joining the newspaper’s parent company, Advance Local, as a vice president in 2014. There she worked to strengthen content across its 30 newspapers and websites, identified and developed news talent and worked on content initiatives for diverse audiences. 

A 30-year news veteran, Simmons has extensive reporting, editing and senior news management experience. She was editor of the Akron Beacon Journal for four years and an editor and reporter at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, the Detroit Free Press, the Hartford Courant and the Syracuse Herald-Journal. 

She was president of the Associated Press Media Editors in 2014, recently completed a term on the board of the International Women’s Media Foundation. She is the board chair of the Maynard Institute and is on the board of the American Society of News Editors. She has a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University’s College of Arts & Sciences and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.