2025 Hall of Achievement Inductee
Shirley Hancock is an Emmy-nominated, award-winning journalist whose 25-year career in broadcast journalism made her a trusted voice in Portland news. While still a journalism student at the UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC), Hancock worked as a reporter for the McKenzie River Reflections newspaper and interned at KVAL-TV. After graduation, she found her dream job at KOIN-TV in her hometown of Portland, where she spent two decades anchoring evening newscasts alongside Emmy-winning journalist Mike Donahue. Together, they became one of the Northwest’s most recognized news teams.
Hancock’s work has been honored by the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Oregon Broadcasters’ Association, and the Dartmouth/Champion International Award for Economic Reporting. Her coverage ranged from Portland’s gang wars and the Rajneesh commune’s political ambitions to Mount St. Helens anniversaries—including a helicopter landing inside the crater.
Beyond television, Hancock’s writing has appeared in publications such as Oxford University Press’s How Writing Works, 1859 Oregon’s Magazine, and 1889 Washington’s Magazine. As a public relations professional and business content writer, she has helped clients secure coverage in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, CNBC, Sunset magazine, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, and the London Times.
Committed to community service, Hancock has represented organizations including the Portland Rose Festival, the March of Dimes, Susan G. Komen’s Race for the Cure, the UO Alumni Association, and the Salvation Army. She and her husband are proud parents of three University of Oregon graduates.
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