newspaper's first African-American editor. He introduced zoned suburban coverage and expanded coverage of minorities issues, as well as increasing the hiring of minorities by the paper. While he was editor two staffers complained to him about how the nicknames of sports teams were demeaning to Native Americans. Under Hilliard's leadership The Oregonian stopped using demeaning sports nicknames in 1992, and the newspaper also stopped identifying people by race in crime stories unless absolutely necessary. Hilliard served as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) in 1993–94, the first African-American to be elected to that position. In 1993, he was given the President's Award of the National Association of Black Journalists, which called him a role model. He remained editor of The Oregonian until retiring in 1994, although during the last year of his tenure with the paper he gave his designated successor, executive editor Sandra M. Rowe, effective control of the editor's duties and focused his attention on ASNE duties. In 1998, Hilliard was given the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame Award by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. In 2002, when it was discovered that USA Today reporter Jack Kelley had fabricated some of his stories, USA Today turned to Hilliard, along with veteran editors John Seigenthaler Sr. and Bill Kovach, to monitor the investigation. Death Hilliard died on January 16, 2017, in Portland, of congestive heart failure, at the age of 89. References External links Hilliard biography at Blackpast Hilliard in Jet, June 18, 1953 Hilliard in Jet, April 19, 1993 Oregonian interview on the death of Dick Bogle 1927 births 2017 deaths African-American history in Portland, Oregon African-American history of Oregon African-American journalists Benson Polytechnic High School alumni Editors of Oregon newspapers Journalists from Portland, Oregon Pacific University alumni People from Chicago The Oregonian people University of Oregon alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people