Hear from the Next Generation

“Maggie Mulvihill is one of the best journalism professors in the country — not just because of the wealth of experience and knowledge she brings to bear, but because she actually cares about her students in a way that is genuinely rare. I don’t need to read her resume to you — you know she’s a heavy hitter with unbelievable stories in her portfolio. But what you may not know is that when you take a class with Maggie, you don’t just get a professor for a semester. You get a mentor for life.

Maggie's data journalism course showed me how to turn numbers on a page into stories of humanity with real impact, uplifting the people so many among us tend to forget. She helped me get clips — national clips on big investigations — that jump-started my career. And in the years since I’ve graduated, she’s guided me through highs and lows in my career — and pushes me to strive even further.

Simply put, Maggie is deeply passionate about telling impactful stories, relentlessly detail-oriented and tenacious about the truth — a professor and a mentor any young journalist would be lucky to have.”

Nick McCool

Segment Producer, ‘Top Story with Tom Llamas’ on NBC News NOW
BU Class of 2020 (Dual Degrees in Journalism and Political Science)

“I took Professor Mulvihill's data journalism class in my senior year, and it is the most informative class I took at BU. Picking up data skills has been crucial in the beginning of my career as a journalist. Even if I am not writing full data stories, the skills I learned in the class have taken my reporting and writing to another level. Professor Mulvihill is on the cutting edge of journalism trends and prepared me for modern journalism better than any professor. She kept it realistic about the life of a reporter and what's expected of you, and she has always been excited and willing to help me navigate through any challenge that has come up.”

Brendan Nordstrom

Community Crime and Public Safety reporter for The Baltimore Sun
Boston University Class of 2025

“Maggie, as my professor and mentor at Boston University, introduced me to the power of data journalism and accountability reporting that fuels my work as a reporter today. It was working alongside her as a student on a story for the Associated Press as she emphasized thorough, fact-checked, detail-oriented reporting that solidified my passion for the job.”

Shwetha Surendran

Writer, ESPN’s investigative and enterprise unit 
Boston University, 2022

“(Maggie) taught us all the ropes: This is how you make a difficult call; this is how you use all of these databases to find people; this is how you get data from government sources; this is how you file public records requests.”

Pulitzer Prize winning Research Reporter, Pro Publica
B.A. Journalism, 2011

Kirsten Berg

“I would highly recommend Professor Mulvihill's class.  I thought it was great.  I had worked as a reporter before so I came into this with some experience and I learned quite a bit.  Being able to get the most out of public records, the most out of datasets that are more and more freely available online. . . Being able to turn that into  useful stories is a really marketable skill.”

John Hilliard

Reporter, The Boston Globe
M.A. Journalism, 2014

“Professor Mulvihill was a mentor, a thesis advisor, a role model, an inspiration, and a champion for every journalism student at BU. In class, Professor Mulvihill threw us into real-world situations, forcing us to question the ethics of the job.  I wish I could go back and take her classes all over again.”

Ava Berger

NPR All Things Considered and General Assignment Intern
Boston University class of 2025

“Maggie is a digital goddess. She knows everything about the digital world, and we would have these chats where she’d say something like, “Have you tried the FBI vault?” or “Have you looked at the police blotter for New York City?”

Maggie helped me figure out how to get to the relatives of some of the people my father knew, and I had wonderful talks with children and grandchildren. She helped me become more sophisticated as a researcher. And then when the writing started, she challenged me.”

Betsy Dribben

M.A. Journalism, 2024

“I owe a lot of what I know about investigative reporting to Maggie Mulvihill.”

Jenna Ebersole

M&A Reporter at MLex Market Insight
B.A. Journalism, 2012

“As a young reporter, if you’re denied something, you just think, ‘oh, I can’t get it.’ But Maggie, who’s experienced and knows better, would always be there to say, ‘No, they have to give it to you; keep pressing them.’”

Sarah Favot

Award-winning Los Angeles-based freelance writer
M.A. Journalism, 2011