David Heath '81 finalist for prestigious 2002 Pulitzer Prize

David Heath, a 1981 graduate of Grinnell College, and Duff Williams, a fellow Seattle Times reporter, were finalists for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in investigative journalism. They were nominated for a series of articles alleging major ethical problems at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The series, titled "Uninformed Consent," alleged that patients were not informed of risks in experimental treatments or of the center's financial interests in those drug treatments.

Three writers with the Washington Post ultimately won the award for a series that exposed the District of Columbia's role in the neglect and deaths of 229 children placed in protective care.

The Seattle Times investigative series, however, did receive several other prestigious awards, including the Goldsmith Prize for Investigate Reporting and its $25,000 award, presented by Harvard University, and the Roy W. Howard Award for Public Service Reporting, presented by the Scripps Howard Foundational National Journalism Awards. The series also captured first place in investigative reporting from the national Headliner Awards contest sponsored by the Press Club of Atlantic City.