Lee Walczak was a journalist with a remarkable career: political news editor at Bloomberg News, Washington bureau chief for Business Week magazine for 20 years, White House correspondent for Business Week and a versatile writer at Business Week/McGraw-Hill. He was a writer and editor specializing in politics who often appeared as a commentator on television news programs and during his career covered seven presidents, from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush.
“For some 40 years, Lee Walczak was a brilliant reporter and editor in the Washington bureau of Business Week magazine. . . he was an insightful political analyst, a fine writer, and a strong manager. He cared passionately about the craft of journalism,” said former Business Week editor-in -chief Steve Shepard.
Lee was a 1968 graduate of the University of Maryland. He earned a Masters in Journalism at the University of Missouri. He was a long-time Maryland resident who supported the Terps and all things UMD.
Lee passed away in March 2008 from pancreatic cancer. The Washington Post obituary described him as the “sage of Washington politics.”
Lee’s family and friends named the room in John S. and James L. Knight Hall in honor of his wisdom and his talent.
His wife, Maria Recio, is a journalist at McClatchy and their oldest daughter Alexa Walczak graduated from Maryland in 2014 and their youngest, Alanna Walczak, is also attending Maryland, class of 2017.
Lele LeVay Ashworth Assistant Dean of External Relations
University of Maryland
Phone: 301.405.2420Email: lashwort@umd.edu
Donate to a memorial fund in honor of Lee Walczak `68, a Journalism alum and longtime Washington bureau chief for BusinessWeek, and an editor at Bloomberg.
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