Kinght Center director found dead

Carol Horner, 63, the director of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland since 2000, was found dead in her Washington home Friday.

The former Philaelphia Inquirer reporter had been battling debilitating migraines for months. Friends and coworkers said she was suffering from another headache Thursday.

A cause of death had not been determined.

"Carol was one of the most remarkable people I have ever known," said Thomas Kunkel, former dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at Maryland. "She was an amazing journalist but also just a great spirit."

As head of the center, she brought journalists to College Park for weeklong programs led by experts on specialized topics, such as nuclear energy and the business of sports.

A native of Richmond, Va., and a 1967 graduate of the College of William and Mary, Ms. Horner started out teaching English in North Carolina and Virginia. After earning a master's degree in journalism from American University, she landed a reporting job at the Record of Bergen County in New Jersey in 1973. She wrote editorials at the former Philadelphia Bulletin and joined The Inquirer's reporting staff in early 1979.

Ms. Horner is survived by her father, Overton Jones; her stepmother, Kathryn H. Jones; a sister, Vivian "Vee" J. Davis; stepbrothers Bryan Jones and Gary Jones; a nephew; and a niece.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete.