Melissa Chessher possesses more than 20 years of experience in the magazine field as both a writer and an editor. She worked on the launch of Real Simple, the largest magazine launch in Time Inc. history, and Gusto, a healthy living magazine for Latin American women. She has written for more than a dozen national consumer publications, including Self, Health, Glamour, Allure, Marie Claire, Fitness, Men’s Health and Parents magazines. Her writing covers a wide range of topics — from travel narratives to deeply reported health features, personal essays and culture articles on food, wine, art and architecture. A special report for Self magazine on the workplace challenges faced by women undergoing breast cancer treatment was part of a package that earned a National Magazine Award for personal service from the American Society of Magazine Editors. In 2016, Folio magazine named Chessher one of its Top Women in Media. In 2022 she joined Southern Methodist University as the Belo Foundation Endowed Distinguished Chair in Journalism, and before that, she served as a chair, professor and interim associate dean at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.