Roberto Suro

Roberto Suro is recognized for his expertise in immigration and Latino population studies, with extensive experience as a journalist, researcher, and academic. Suro began his journalism career at the City News Bureau of Chicago as a police reporter, followed by positions at the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune. He later joined TIME Magazine, serving as a correspondent in the Chicago, Washington, Beirut, and Rome bureaus. Suro also worked at The New York Times as bureau chief in Rome and Houston, and after an Alicia Patterson Fellowship, became a staff writer at The Washington Post, covering the Justice Department, the Pentagon, and serving as deputy national editor.

Suro founded the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C., where he directed research and supervised the production of more than 100 publications on Latino demographics, immigration policy, and public opinion. He played a key role in launching the Pew Research Center and organized research and policy conferences with organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

As an author, Suro has contributed to public understanding of immigration and Latino life in the United States. His works include "Writing Immigration: Scholars and Journalists in Dialogue," co-edited with Marcelo Suarez-Orozco and Vivian Louie; "Strangers Among Us: Latino Lives in a Changing America;" "Watching America's Door: The Immigration Backlash and the New Policy Debate;" and "Remembering the American Dream: Hispanic Immigration and National Policy." He has also published numerous book chapters, reports, and articles related to Latinos and immigration, translating complex policy debates into accessible narratives for broad audiences.

At the University of Southern California, Suro holds a joint appointment at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the Sol Price School of Public Policy. As associate director of the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation, he leads the Southern California Symposium, an executive education program focused on regional challenges. Suro contributes commentaries on immigration policy and Latino politics for The New York Times Sunday Review and other publications, and his scholarly writing addresses migration from Central America to the United States. He has received the Berlin Prize for his scholarship on immigration and served as the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities at the American Academy in Berlin. Suro was also recognized with a USC Mentoring Award for his work with undergraduate students. His career spans journalism, research, and academia, with a focus on immigration, Latino affairs, and public policy.