Columnist Connie Schultz won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for commentary for what the judges called her "pungent columns that provided a voice for the underdog and the underprivileged." It is a common theme in her work.

In addition to the Pulitzer, Schultz won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for commentary and the National Headliner Award for commentary. She was also elected to the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame.

She was a 2003 Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing for her series "The Burden of Innocence," which chronicled the ordeal of Michael Green, who was imprisoned for 13 years for a rape he did not commit. The week after her series ran, the real rapist turned himself in after reading her stories. He is currently serving a five-year prison sentence. Her series won numerous honors, including the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting, the National Headliner Award's Best of Show and journalism awards from both Harvard College and Columbia University.

In 2004, Schultz won the Batten Medal, which honors "a body of journalistic work that reflects compassion, courage, humanity and a deep concern for the underdog."

Schultz's first book, Life Happens – And Other Unavoidable Truths, was published by Random House in April 2006. Her second book, … And His Lovely Wife, is a memoir about her husband’s race for the Senate. It was released by Random House in June 2007.

Schultz is married to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. They have four children.