Two new members have joined The Salt Lake Editorial Board.
The editorial voice of The Tribune is in the hands of six people, three members of the newspaper’s professional staff, two from the Tribune’s Board of Directors and one from the community. One board of directors member and the community member rotate from year to year.
Michelle Quist
Joining the Editorial Board this month as the new community member is Michelle Quist.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Michelle Quist.
Michelle has been involved in law and politics for over 20 years. She is also a commercial litigator and appellate attorney at Holland & Hart in Salt Lake City. She has been a Utah Republican Party county and state officer, is on a number of court-related committees, is a Utah State Bar Commissioner and volunteers for various community organizations and boards.
She is no stranger to The Tribune or to the Editorial Board, having worked here as an editorial writer in 2017 and 2018 and continuing as a contributing columnist.
Michelle replaces former community board member A. Scott Anderson, president and CEO of Zions Bank, who left the Editorial Board in October to devote himself to his new role as president of the American Bankers Association.
Dave Patel
Dave Patel joins the Editorial Board as a representative of The Salt Lake Tribune Board of Directors.
Dave Patel | Salt Lake Tribune Board of Directors
Dave, a first-generation immigrant and long-time Utahn, serves as the associate dean of the business school at Utah State University. Prior to joining USU, he spent 15 years in Washington, D.C., in both the public and private sectors. He has a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and a Master’s in Political Science, both from Utah State University. He is also a member of The Salt Lake Tribune’s Board of Directors.
He takes the Editorial Board slot of Holly Mullen, who remains on the Board of Directors.
The continuing members of The Editorial Board are:
Paul Huntsman, chair
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Paul Huntsman.
Paul purchased The Tribune and became its publisher in 2016, and remains the chairman of its board now that the newspaper has become a nonprofit. He is president of Huntsman Family Investments, and serves on a number of other nonprofit and corporate boards. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Lauren Gustus, executive editor
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Executive Editor Lauren Gustus.
Lauren joined The Tribune in December of 2020, coming from The Sacramento Bee, where she was editor of that newspaper, a member of its editorial board, and oversaw nine other West Coast newsrooms owned by The McClatchy Co. She was an assistant sports editor for The Tribune from 2004 to 2007 and has overseen newsrooms in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Reno, Nevada. A native of Massachusetts, she has a degree from Pepperdine University in Southern California.
George Pyle, opinion editor
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) George Pyle.
George’s career at The Tribune began in 2002 as an editorial writer and he became editorial page editor in 2017. Before that he worked for a series of community newspapers in Kansas, starting in 1978, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing in 1998. He was born in Kansas City, Mo., and has a degree in journalism from Wichita State University.
Tim Fitzpatrick, senior director of public outreach and operations
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tim Fitzpatrick.
Tim has filled a variety of roles at The Tribune in a career that began 44 years ago, including copy boy, reporter, editor, editorial page editor, deputy editor and executive vice president. He has a degree in physics from Utah State University and an MBA degree from the University of Utah.
Members of the Editorial Board shape the official views of The Salt Lake Tribune, represented in the editorials labeled “Our View.” It’s members also meet with office-holders, candidates, public officials and others to gather information that informs those editorials.
The Tribune is Utah’s leading independent voice, promoting truth, transparency, community building, fairness and the voice of the people. Along these lines, we aim to strengthen our democratic institutions, governance, voter awareness and participation in our state’s future.
Contributions to The Tribune opinion pages from other members of the community are welcome. Commentary pieces, exclusive to The Tribune, can be sent to gpyle@sltrib.com. We ask that they be no more than 700 words and include a recent photo of the author. Letters to The Public Forum should be addressed to letters@sltrib.com. We ask that letters be no more than 300 words and address a single issue of importance to the Utah community.