Marty Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post and a real-life hero of the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight,” will be the keynote speaker at Temple University’s School of Media and Communication graduation exercises in May.

“Marty Baron is one of the leading lights in American media, a courageous journalist and a great leader,” said SMC Dean David Boardman. “I’m thrilled that he will be joining us to share his wisdom and experience with our graduates.”

As the top editor of The Washington Post, Baron oversees print and digital operations as well as a staff of about 700 journalists. The newspaper has won three Pulitzer Prizes under Baron’s leadership—one 2014 for public service after revealing secret surveillance by the National Security Agency, one in 2014 for explanatory journalism about food stamps in America and one in 2015 for national reporting for its coverage of security lapses in the U.S. Secret Service.

Prior to joining The Post, Baron served as editor of The Boston Globe for nearly 12 years. The film “Spotlight,” which won the Academy Award for Best Picture this year, made the Globe’s Pulitzer Prize investigative unit the subject of national acclaim. Actor Liev Schrieber portrayed Baron, the then-new editor who drove the newspaper’s investigation of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. In a column in The Post, Baron credited the results of the journalism as all the reward he needed.

Baron’s career also spans stints in top editing roles at The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Miami Herald. In 2001, he was named Editor of the Year by Editor & Publisher magazine. The National Press Foundation named him Editor of the Year in 2004.

Spring graduation exercises will be held on Friday, May 6, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.

—Shannon McLaughlin Rooney