CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - The University of Illinois will honor the late film critic Roger Ebert with its 2014 Illinois Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism.
The university says Ebert’s widow, Chaz Ebert, will accept the award at a Feb. 11 ceremony in Chicago.
Winners are chosen by university journalism faculty but Ebert is the first University of Illinois graduate to receive it. Past winners include former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
Ebert was an Urbana native and from 1967 until his death in 2013 he was the film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times. In 1975 he won the first Pulitzer awarded to a film critic.
Rich Martin is the head of the university’s department of journalism. He said Ebert’s work more than earned the university honor.
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