George Solomon

George Solomon worked at The Washington Post from 1972 to 2009, serving as sports editor from 1975-2003 and a Sunday sports columnist from 2003-2009.  He was the founding director of the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland from 2011 to 2020 and a member of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism faculty from 2003 to 2020. He retired in 2020.

Solomon, who is currently working on a book about his career and the future of sports journalism, also served as an ombudsman at ESPN, where he criticized the network for not making clear the difference between commentary and reporting on their shows, and for generally having too much sensationalism and not enough journalism in their stories.

In 2003, Solomon was honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors with the Red Smith Award, which recognizes “major contributions to sports journalism.”

Solomon’s son, Aaron, a 1991 graduate from the College, has been the producer of ESPN’s “Around the Horn” for the past 21 years. A grandson, Bennett, is a senior at the College and sports editor of the Independent Florida Alligator student news organization.