When Alejandro Junco de la Vega returned to his native Mexico in 1969, after five years in Austin and with a journalism degree from The University of Texas, he found that his family-owned newspapers were struggling financially and that the news reporting in his country was biased, corrupt, and inaccurate.

"I soon came to realize that in Mexico," Junco says, "we would need someone to help us educate our future journalists."

So he invited Mary Gardner, his former journalism professor at UT, to Monterrey to teach the fundamentals of news reporting and ethics to a new generation of journalists on his staff.

"She was a demanding teacher," Junco says. "She would question our writing and our journalistic practices, and she would challenge us vigorously. If she saw us falling short, she would let us know in no uncertain terms."

Alejandro Junco eventually built one of the most powerful newspaper conglomerates in Latin America, with dailies in Mexico's three largest cities: Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. For the past 30 years, despite governmental bans, union boycotts, and physical threats to his writers, Junco's publications have maintained rigorous ethical standards and raised the level of journalism in Mexico.

"Mary Gardner's spirit is the very thing that helped us bring change to our profession, which in turn has helped our country change," the publisher says. "What she has given to the people of Mexico has value beyond calculation. Hers is a priceless legacy, and one that has helped to steer the destiny of a nation."

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