The Herald is proud to announce the members of our 135th Editorial Board, which will oversee the paper through its 134th year.
The 135th Editorial Board will be led by Editor-in-Chief and President Tom Li ’26. Hailing from Pleasanton, California, Li is an economics and international and public affairs concentrator who covers city news for The Herald’s Metro section. In the past, he worked on the copy editing and design teams, beyond writing for the Editorial Page Board.
No matter what coverage came his way, from renewable energy and COVID-19 to community activism, Li led writers through some of The Herald’s most memorable stories. His diligent reporting and kind mentorship have inspired all around him. Li has been an integral part of the organization. So integral, in fact, that some sources have even referred to him as “Herald.”
Ryan Doherty ’26, a chemistry concentrator, will serve as The Herald’s next vice president and managing editor of digital content. This month, he’ll finish his year as an editor for both University news and science and research, as well as a co-lead for the paper’s poll committee.
Doherty, who comes to Brown from Carmel, New York, has written an impressive 110 articles during his time in the newsroom, including a series on tenure at Brown, an exploration of pathways to academia, the history of the Watson Institute, student activism and the proof of a 50-year-old Möbius Strip conjecture. The outlandish quantity of hours he has spent in The Herald’s newsroom is second only to his embarrassingly high screen time on TikTok.
Hailing from San Diego, California, Owen Dahlkamp ’26 will lead The Herald’s daily news operations as the next managing editor of the newsroom. A meticulous reporter and exacting editor, Dahlkamp treats journalism as a science — which is fitting, given his double concentration in cognitive neuroscience and political science and his passion for aviation, data and spreadsheets.
Over the past two years, Dahlkamp has authored some of the hardest-hitting stories in University news. His resume includes meticulous investigations into Brown’s admissions practices and preparation for last spring’s pro-Palestinian encampment by the Brown police department. A rapid and reliable reporter, he was crucial to The Herald’s breaking news operations last spring, when he covered student activism on campus, including the encampment and a week-long hunger strike. Dahlkamp has boundless potential to succeed in any occupation he chooses. Unfortunately, that career of choice is political journalism.
A local of Palo Alto, California, Julianna Chang ’26 possesses the quick judgment and considerable editorial acumen that will allow her to enhance the paper’s production processes as the managing editor of production and development. Chang concentrates in biology and political science and has spent her time at The Herald keeping her finger on the pulse of University trends.
From the discontinuation of the architecture concentration to a behind-the-scenes of Brown Concert Agency funding and coverage of a Brown student’s fifth-place finish in Miss America, Chang has a keen vocabulary to pen both the wins and the woes of the Brown community. Dedicated readers know her for her first-class coverage overseeing the academics and advising and student government beats. On the other hand, her credit card issuer knows her for her alarming spending habits on salmon bowls from Pokeworks.
Coming from Menlo Park, CA and rounding out the Bay Area triumvirate, English and political science concentrator Anisha Kumar ’26 will steward The Herald’s recruitment, training and social apparatus as the senior editor of community and standards. While Kumar is allergic to chocolate — her favorite food — she was certainly not allergic to the challenging stories she covered as a university news editor.
From student-staged sit-in, protest and encampment to students’ reactions to Jonathan Greenblatt’s talk on campus to an interview with President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and the University’s endowment, Kumar tackled important stories with professionalism and dedication. If you are looking for a more relaxing read, don’t miss Kumar’s reviews on “Love is Blind” and “Slow Horses.”
Yael Wellisch ’26, who arrived at 88 Benevolent St. from Washington, D.C., is a history and international and public affairs concentrator who will serve as senior editor of opinions. She’s ascending to the 135th Editorial Board after assembling an impressive repertoire of columns on the role of consumer activism in the corporate and political arenas, the importance of pre-professional advising and the perils of news on social media.
In joining the Editorial Board, Wellisch will leave behind the many joys (and occasional frustrations) of editing opinion content at The Herald. Instead, she’ll get to experience the constant frustration (and occasional joys) of editing news stories.
The 134th editorial board could not be prouder of these incoming editors. As we hand over the reins, we wish them good luck and good sleep for the hectic year to come. Congratulations, 135.
135 will also be joined by a new slate of section editors, business leaders, post- editors and multimedia and production heads:
Section Editors
Arts & Culture
Talia LeVine ’27
Manav Musunuru ’26
Metro
Megan Chan ’27
Avani Ghosh ’26 (returning)
Maya Kelly ’27
Ciara Meyer ’27
Sanai Rashid ’27
Science & Research
Elise Haulund ’27
Claire Song ’27
Sports
Dennis Carey ’26 (returning)
Lydell Dyer ’26
Linus Lawrence ’25 (returning)
University News
Hadley Carr ’27
Cate Latimer ’27
Ciara Meyer ’27
Aniyah Nelson ’25 (returning)
Ethan Schenker ’27
Claire Song ’27
Sophia Wotman ’26
Opinions Editors
Paulie Malherbe ’26 (returning)
Paul Hudes ’26 (returning)
Tas Rahman ’26
Meher Sandhu ’25
Camila Valdes ’27
Multimedia and Production Chiefs
Design
Kaiolena Tacazon ’26
Illustration
Kendra Eastep ’27
Kaitlyn Stanton RISD’26
Photo
Max Robinson ’26.5
Kaia Yalamanchili ’28
Social Media
Kaiolena Tacazon ’26 (returning)
Tech Team
Jakobi Haskell ’25 (returning)
Copy Chief
Daphne Cao ’27
post- magazine
Editor-in-Chief
Emilie Guan ’26
Editors’ Notes are written by The Herald’s 134th Editorial Board: Neil Mehta ’25, Julia Vaz ’25, Charlie Clynes ’25, Kathy Wang ’25 and Finn Kirkpatrick ’25.
