Michael H. Cottman is Assistant to the Dean with Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication.  He also serves as a Lecturer of Political Reporting and helps facilitate the Dean's special projects with media organizations, including The Wall Street Journal, NBCUniversal, CBS News, CBS Sports and Forbes.

Cottman is a former editor at NBC News Digital and former Program Editor with The NBCUniversal News Group’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team, (NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC).  He previously served as Editorial Manager for NBCBLK, a division of NBC News Digital that offers stories and opinions about the African American experience.

Cottman is a former reporter for The Washington Post, Newsday, and The Miami Herald.

Cottman has received numerous awards including journalism's highest honor, the Pulitzer Prize, which he shared with a staff at Newsday in 1992. 

Cottman has written nine books about the Black experience in America, including The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie: An African American's Spiritual Journey to Uncover a Sunken Slave Ship's Past, (Crown/Random House) the story of a 17th Century slave ship that wrecked in 1698 off the coast of Florida. 

Cottman was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss his book, his research in London and scuba diving expeditions across three continents.

“His 25 years as a journalist would not prepare him for an emotional discovery that saturated his soul.  Michael came face-to-face with slavery during a scuba dive that sent him on the journey of his life.  Spirt Dive.  Love that.” -- Oprah Winfrey. 

Cottman received the 2022 Outstanding Book Award from The National Association of Black Journalists for two of his books:"Say Their Names: How Black Lives Came To Matter in America, and Segregated Skies: David Harris’s Trailblazing Journey to Rise Above Racial Barriers