SCOTT GILLESPIE
Editorial page editor and vice president

Scott Gillespie is the Star Tribune's editorial page editor and vice president. He's responsible for opinion content and leads the Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

Gillespie, who has worked in journalism for more than 40 years in Minnesota and Wisconsin, has been in his current role since 2007. He was the lead editor of "Not this mine, not this location," a 2019 special report on mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and "Separate and Unequal," a series of 2015 editorials on underfunded Bureau of Indian Education schools. Both projects were finalists for Pulitzer Prizes in the editorial writing category. He also was the nominating editor for editorial cartoonist Steve Sack's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection in 2013.

Before joining the opinion team, Gillespie was managing editor at the Star Tribune, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the newsroom. During his five-year tenure in that role, the news staff produced awarding-winning coverage on the death of Paul Wellstone, the war in Iraq and the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge. Before being named managing editor, Gillespie served as the paper's assistant managing editor for local news and assistant managing editor for business news. He also worked as a reporter and editor at the Milwaukee Sentinel, the Milwaukee Business Journal and Minneapolis-St. Paul CityBusiness.

Gillespie served as a Pulitzer Prize juror in 2004, 2005, 2011 and 2012. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has been an adjunct faculty member in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota and a mentor for political science students at UW-Madison.

E-mail: scott.gillespie@startribune.com
On X (formerly Twitter): @stribgillespie


 

JILL BURCUM
Editorial writer

Jill has been an editorial writer since March 2008, joining the Editorial Board after working in the newsroom as an editor and reporter. She is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for editorial writing. "Not This Mine. Not This Location," which focused on copper mining's risk to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, was recognized in 2020. Her "Separate and Unequal" series on dilapidated Bureau of Indian Education schools was a finalist in 2015, and she also testified before Congress that same year about these schools' poor condition. Burcum graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in 1991 and started her career as a reporter for the Rochester Post-Bulletin. She previously worked for Mayo Clinic and Ican Inc. Jill and her family live on a southeast Minnesota farm.

E-mail: jill.burcum@startribune.com
On X: @JBurcum


 

DENISE JOHNSON
Editorial writer

Denise has been an editorial writer at the Star Tribune since 1996. Before joining the editorial board, she was a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and wrote editorials for the Miami Herald. She currently writes about urban affairs and a variety of other topics, but specializes in covering K-12 education. Johnson has also worked for the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington, D.C., and done diversity training locally and nationally. Earlier in her career, she hosted and produced news and issues public affairs shows on Twin Cities public television. The recipient of several journalism awards, she was honored in 2007 with the Frank Premack Graven award for career contributions to public journalism. Johnson lives with her husband in St. Paul, her hometown, and they have one grown daughter.

E-mail: denise.johnson@startribune.com


 

JOHN RASH
Editorial writer and columnist

John is an editorial writer and columnist. His weekly Rash Report column analyzes media news and trends. His focus on foreign policy as an editorial writer has taken him on reporting trips to China, Japan, Turkey, Rwanda, Kuwait and Kazakhstan. John was the recipient of a 2014 Society of Professional Journalists Page One Award for editorial writing. John's commentary can be heard Fridays at 8:20 a.m. on WCCO-AM (830), the CBS radio affiliate in the Twin Cities. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, John was a senior vice president, director of media analysis for Campbell Mithun, a Minneapolis-based national advertising agency. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, and has been an adjunct faculty member at the U's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He lives in Bloomington with his wife and two children.

E-mail: john.rash@startribune.com
On X: @RashReport


 

D.J. TICE
Commentary editor and columnist

D.J. is commentary editor and a weekly columnist. He has been a writer, editor and publisher in Twin Cities journalism for nearly four decades. Tice was an editor at Corporate Report Minnesota and Twin Cities magazines, editor and publisher at the Twin Cities Reader, and an editorial writer and columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. From 2003-09, he was the Star Tribune's state political editor, directing coverage of the Legislature, state government, the Minnesota congressional delegation, and elections. He is the author of two books of popular history. His collection of ordinary Minnesotans' memories, Minnesota's Twentieth Century, published by the University of Minnesota Press, was awarded the Minnesota Book Award for history in 2000.

E-mail: doug.tice@startribune.com
On X: @StribDJ


 

STEVE GROVE
Steve, the Star Tribune's CEO and publisher, advises the Editorial Board and meets regularly with editorial page editor Scott Gillespie to discuss the board's positions.


 

DAVID BANKS
Assistant commentary editor

David is involved in various aspects of production of the opinion pages and online opinion presentation, including the selection of commentaries and editorial writing. Born in St. Paul, he grew up in Prior Lake and Kasson, Minn., before attending college at what is now Minnesota State University, Mankato. He previously worked at the Mankato Free Press, Austin Daily Herald and St. Cloud Times. He's been at the Star Tribune since 1994.

E-mail: david.banks@startribune.com


 

ELENA NEUZIL
Copy editor and letters editor

Elena is a copy editor for the editorial pages and the Star Tribune letters editor, meaning she reads every contribution from readers that the paper receives (whether via e-mail or handwritten letter) and picks which should be published each day. Before her current role, Elena worked as a copy editor at Thomson Reuters and as a Star Tribune copy editing intern in the newsroom. She graduated from the University of St. Thomas in 2017 with a degree in journalism, hails from in St. Paul, and has been reading the Star Tribune since she was a kid.

E-mail: elena.neuzil@startribune.com


 

MAGGIE KELLY
Assistant commentary editor

Maggie designs Star Tribune Opinion's print pages and is a copy editor for the section as well. She grew up in Hopkins and Bloomington, then traveled south to attend Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in English and creative writing. She previously worked as a managing editor for Tiger Oak Media and got her start at the Star Tribune on the copy desk in 2014.

E-mail: maggie.kelly@startribune.com