This week’s announcement that Peter Prengaman ’98 has been named Associated Press News Director for Brazil was especially gratifying news for those who have followed his remarkable career. And because Peter has been a frequent contributor to Wabash Magazine, WM readers have gotten a behind-the-scenes view of both the adventure and the challenges faced by journalists today.
To get a sense of the tough choices he’s faced in putting his family ahead of career and how Wabash informed those choices, read his A Man’s Life essay about caring for his mother: “Thinking Critically, Living Humanely.”
He also recalls his Wabash mentors and how they shaped his years at the College in “Professors, Mentors, and Fathers.”
On the adventurous side, Peter recalls covering the rebellion in Haiti, during which he was nearly kidnapped: “A Piercing Silence.”
Then there’s the unexpected encounter with the president of Bolivia as the two give blood after a powerful storm in La Paz: “Encounter with El Presidente.”
And his coverage of a confrontation between immigrants and conservative protesters in California in 2007: “Ground Zero.”
And a profile about his career written by Patrick McAlister ’10: “Covering the World.”
You get a hint of the breadth of his intellectual curiosity, skill, and accomplishments in the brief bio included in the AP article:
A hobby linguist and Portuguese speaker, Prengaman also has a certificate in Arabic from the University of California, Los Angeles, a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and English literature from Wabash College and a master’s in Latin American Studies from Stanford University, where he wrote his Master’s thesis on Pentecostal movements in Brazil. He and his wife have three sons.
We’re grateful for Peter’s generosity in sharing his life and career with us throughout the years. It’s hard to find a man who has been better served by—or has better lived out—the values of his Wabash liberal arts education.
Congratulations, Peter!
