Nancy Hicks Maynard, co-founder of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education and former co-publisher of the Oakland Tribune, died on Sunday of multiple organ failure at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 61.

After serving as a reporter for the New York Post and the New York Times, Nancy Maynard and her spouse, Robert C. Maynard, acquired the Oakland Tribune from Gannett Co. in 1983 and thus made the paper become the only daily owned by African Americans. In addition to this, the Oakland Tribune was awarded with a Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for pictures of the earthquake which took place in the San Francisco Bay area.

Nancy and Robert Maynard were forced to put the newspaper up for sale in 1992, as financial difficulties and the latter’s health problems left the couple no other choice.

Unfortunately, Robert Maynard died of cancer in 1993.

Nancy Maynard was also a co-founder of the Institute for Journalism Education in California, known now as the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

She was born on November 1, 1946, in New York City, and her passion for journalism was cultivated by her mother’s interest in the same field.

Mrs. Maynard started her career while she was a student at Long Island University, where she obtained her undergraduate degree in 1967. She subsequently became a reporter for the New York Post and the New York Times.

After Robert Maynard’s death, Nancy Maynard worked as a consultant and writer, remaining an advocate for newsroom diversity.

She is survived by her partner of four years, Jay T. Harris of Santa Monica, Calif., a son from her first marriage, a son and stepdaughter from her second marriage, as well as her mother, a sister and a brother.