Class of 1972
Cunningham began her career as a staff writer at the Roanoke Times and World News (VA). She worked her way through four New Jersey newspapers from 1977-1991 — the Daily Record in Morristown, the Patterson News, the Hudson Dispatch and the Trenton Times, where she was executive editor and vice president of news. She was executive editor of the Rockford Register Star in Illinois for 20 years before retiring in 2011. She was awarded Journalist of the Year by Northern Illinois University, received Gannett President’s Ring twice and served as a Pulitzer Prize judge several times. She worked with the American Society of News Editors, the American Press Institute and the Inland Press Association, as well as several state and regional press associations. Cunningham is nationally known for her work in management and leadership training.
After retiring Cunningham launched Key West Watch Media, a website that manages social media and creates online marketing for small businesses. Part of Key West Watch Media, Key West Island News publishes original content and aggregates news from local Florida news organizations. LGC says is a web column that offers news analysis and general observations, and Dear Conner is a series of columns written for her grandson. Her Key West Hurricane Irma Facebook page was created during Hurricane Irma in September 2017, and it reached a million people in fewer than three weeks. Cunningham is affiliated with the Lower Keys chapter of the League of Women Voters and served on the boards of the Monroe County (FL) Land Use Authority Advisory Committee, Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe (FIRM) and the Stars and Stripes national publisher’s board.
