PORTLAND – Maine Public Radio’s Irwin Gratz is the head of the nation’s oldest and largest journalism organization.

Gratz, the local host of Maine Public Radio’s “Morning Edition,” will begin a one-year term as president of the Society of Professional Journalists at the society’s national convention in New York City on Sept. 11. He is the first public broadcasting journalist as well as the first Maine journalist to head the 95-year-old society.

As president, Gratz will help set the society’s agenda and serve as chairman of its national board. Gratz also plans to travel around the country, meeting with society members and speaking to groups of news consumers.

Gratz is a 26-year broadcast journalism veteran. He has served as local anchor of Maine Public Radio’s Morning Edition since 1992.