Story by Logan Jackson
The Mizzou Honors College will welcome journalist and award-winning author Sam Quinones to campus in April as its Cherng Distinguished Scholar.
Quinones will connect with Mizzou students, faculty and staff through a public lecture, seminars and classroom visits. His public lecture will be at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, in 2501 Mizzou Student Center (Leadership Auditorium). The event is free and open to all.
“Sam Quinones is an incredible storyteller,” said Catherine Rymph, dean of the Mizzou Honors College. “He has spent years conducting in-depth reporting on gangs, drug trafficking and immigration, which have not only kept readers informed on the health and social consequences of addiction, but also led to stellar nonfiction books on similar topics. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Mizzou campus to share more with students, faculty and staff.”
Quinones earned economics and American history degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. He worked for a handful of newspapers before moving to Mexico in 1994, where he worked as a freelance reporter. He moved back to the United States a decade later where he covered immigration and gang-related stories for the Los Angeles Times. After nearly 10 years at the Times, Quinones began freelance writing full-time. His work has appeared in numerous publications, such as National Geographic, The New York Times and Pacific Standard.
Quinones’ first two books were born out of his time in Mexico. His next two books – Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic and The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth – have earned critical acclaim. Dreamland won the National Book Critics Circle award for the Best Nonfiction Book of 2015. In 2021, The Least of Us was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award for Best Nonfiction Book and Dreamland was named one of the “50 Best Books of Literary Journalism of the 21st Century” by GQ.
Quinones’ newest book – The Perfect Tuba: Forging Fulfillment from the Bass Horn, Band, and Hard Work – was published in 2025. In a departure from his work on drug addiction, Quinones’ most recent book had the author traveling across the country to learn more about American tubists.
“We are looking forward to learning more about Mr. Quinones’ experiences as an author and journalist, as well as his work overall,” Rymph said. “We are fortunate to be able to offer this opportunity through our Cherng Distinguished Scholar program. Our previous Scholars have been engaging and informative, and I know Mr. Quinones will bring those same qualities to the Mizzou campus.”
Quinones’ visit as a Cherng Distinguished Scholar is made possible through a gift by Andrew and Peggy Cherng and the Panda Charitable Family Foundation.