Dr. John Warren

Undoubtedly, others have suggested Dr. Warren. His long view of US history, his fairness, decency, intellectual rigor, and capacity for original thought make him a rare leader. Moreover, he is a wonderful lecturer–warm, amusing, fact-based and generous.

-Nominated by Helen Ofield

Dr. Warren is President of Warren Communications, Inc., an African American-owned media group with community newspapers on the East and West Coast. He is the publisher of the 62-year-old San Diego Voice & Viewpoint, which is among the oldest African American newspapers in the country. Dr. Warren’s career spans education, politics, journalism and philanthropy.

Born in Henderson, NC in 1945, John Warren grew up in Washington, DC. He served as a commissioned officer for the US Army from 1966 to 1973, and is a graduate of the Officers’ Candidate School of Ft. Benning, Georgia.

Dr. Warren had an extensive career in public service from 1974 to 1983, serving many positions concurrently. For a dozen years, he worked with Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Shirley Chisholm, and other noted African American members of Congress in the US House of Representatives, and as Legislative Assistant to the House Committee on Education and Labor. He served eight years as an elected Member of the Washington, DC Board of Education and one year as an elected Director of the National School Boards Association.

He received his undergraduate degree and law degree (1984) from Howard University, followed by graduate studies in public policy and administration at the University of Southern California. Dr. Warren is a past member of the National Bar Association, and in his early years in California served as a Law Clerk to both the San Diego County Counsel’s Office and the San Diego City Attorney’s Office before becoming an Adjunct Professor at National University, where he taught government contracts, public policy, and education law and finance.

A noted journalist in the San Diego community, he was a weekly commentator on the local NPR PBS station for nearly a decade. San Diego Voice and Viewpoint can be found in all 89 San Diego zip codes, and appears on more than 350 newsstands across the city.

Dr. Warren is an ordained minister, co-founder, and senior pastor of Eagles Nest Christian Worship Center in San Diego, California. He holds a Black Belt in the Martial Arts, and numerous awards from groups and organizations from all walks of life, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Newspaper Publishers Association. He and his wife Dolores have five children and five grandchildren.