The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) today announced the winners of three of its top awards for 2008: Dith Pran (posthumous), former photographer of The New York Times; Simon Li, former assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times; and Dori Maynard, president and chief executive officer of The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

AAJA will present the awards at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on Friday, July 25 during its gala scholarship and awards banquet, which is part of the UNITY: Journalists of Color Convention. Ti-Hua Chang and JuJu Chang will emcee the banquet. Martin Bashir, co-anchor of ABC's "Nightline" and correspondent on 20/20, will be the keynote speaker.

AAJA is the nation's largest professional organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) journalists. Representing approximately 2,000 members, AAJA promotes fair and accurate news coverage, develops managers in the media industry and encourages young people to consider journalism as a career.

Lifetime Achievement Award:
Dith Pran (posthumous), photographer of The New York Times.

Dith Pran, who was a photojournalist for The New York Times until his death earlier this year is the 2008 recipient of AAJA's Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated courage and commitment to the principles of journalism over the course of a life's work, as well as dedication to issues important to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

Dith Pran worked as a translator for the United States military and an interpreter for foreign journalists. After the capture of Phnom Penh by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Dith was arrested, held for execution, exiled to rural labor camps and survived through more than four years of forced labor, beatings and starvation in the period known as the "The Killing Fields." After escaping, Dith moved to New York and became a staff photographer for The New York Times, a position he held until his passing on March 30, 2008.

Special Recognition Award:
Simon Li, former assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times.

Simon Li is the 2008 recipient of AAJA's Special Recognition Award, which honors an individual who has helped advance AAJA's goal over the past year.

At the Los Angeles Times, Li was an assistant business editor, foreign editor and assistant managing editor. He was known in the Times newsroom for his championship of international coverage, and was notorious for his blunt public questioning of top management. Today, he is a consultant for the Times. He retired from full-time journalism last summer after a career in newspapers that spanned 42 years, the last 23 of them with the Los Angeles Times.

Li's personal financial contributions help to support AAJA's programs.

Leadership in Diversity Award:
Dori Maynard, president and chief executive officer, The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

Dori Maynard has helped open doors for hundreds of minorities as newsroom leaders across the nation. As president and chief executive officer of The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, she heads an organization her father and other journalists started, that teaches journalists to recognize the "fault lines" of race, class, gender, generation and geography in newsgathering and coverage. The institute also sponsors management programs such as the Media Academy, which has helped create a multicultural corps of managers and executives.