Dan is an investigative reporter on WBEZ’s Government & Politics Team. Since joining the station in 2018, Dan has won three National Edward R. Murrow Awards, including the 2022 investigative reporting prize, for a series of stories on sexual abuse of lifeguards at Chicago’s beaches and pools. The “Buried Secrets” series prompted criminal charges, reforms and the resignations of the Park District’s chief executive and board president. Those stories also won first prize in the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Investigative Reporting.
Dan is a three-time winner of the Chicago Headline Club’s Watchdog Award for Excellence in Public Interest Reporting and was awarded the Headline Club’s 2018 Anne Keegan Award for his feature stories about immigrants. His work also earned first prize for investigative reporting in the Education Writers Association’s national awards in 2014.
Dan joined WBEZ from the Chicago Sun-Times. His investigations for the newspaper’s “Watchdogs” team led to the resignation of a Chicago Public Schools CEO and a federal fraud case against the leader of the state’s largest charter-school network. Dan previously was a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Chicago News Cooperative (Chicago section of the New York Times) and the Chicago Tribune, where he covered the City Hall beat, the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Dan was born in Chicago and graduated from Maine West High School in Des Plaines and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. His first language was Greek and he is fluent in Spanish.
Dan Mihalopoulos

Stories by Dan Mihalopoulos
Chicago cops say the city owes them more than $165 million in overtime dispute
The massive sum surfaced in a federal lawsuit against the city of Chicago by officers whose overtime pay was calculated incorrectly.
First Black woman to lead NEIU accuses board of discrimination and ethics violations
University President Gloria Gibson said board members tried to fire her after one of them sought favorable treatment for his wife.
Right after landing a big deal with the CTA, businessman helps Lightfoot’s reelection effort
The contribution supporting the incumbent mayor from a contractor exploited a loophole in rules designed to end the perception of pay-to-play politics.
Vallas gives away campaign contribution from ex-cop in Laquan McDonald case
Vallas’s bid for mayor of Chicago was facing criticism for accepting $5,000 from a retired detective named in a $5 million legal settlement.
Paul Vallas gets help in Chicago mayoral bid from ex-officer in Laquan McDonald scandal
The now-retired Chicago cop was named in two legal cases that cost the city more than $5 million. He gave $5,000 to the Vallas campaign.
Paul Vallas will keep campaign contribution from former CPS board member
The decision marks an about-face from his stand in 2019, when he returned a donation from Deborah Quazzo.
Vallas gets help in Chicago mayoral bid from controversial ex-CPS board member
Vallas gave back $500 from Deborah Quazzo in 2019, but the businesswoman has donated $7,500 to his campaign in next month’s election.
For 2nd time in a week, Chicago Police Department under fire over handling of a cop accused of belonging to extremist group
The city’s inspector general on Friday questioned the thoroughness of an internal investigation into the officer after it was reported that he was a member of the Oath Keepers.
A former Illinois Democratic insider has a mellow new job — Michigan marijuana ‘ganjier’
After a Springfield scandal, Mike Noonan left the state to fire up a second career — as a certified connoisseur of fine, organic weed.
A World Cup odyssey through Chicago’s soccer-loving ethnic communities
In Chicago, it’s easy to find watch parties for fans of many different teams competing for soccer’s world championship.