Five New England journalists will receive the Yankee Quill Award this fall for their contributions to journalism in the six-state region, including Robert Schrepf, former longtime editorial page editor of The Hartford Courant.

The Yankee Quill Award is presented annually by the Academy of New England Journalists through the auspices of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation. It is considered the highest individual honor awarded by fellow journalists in the region.

“We are thrilled with Bob’s honor from such a distinguished group. It honors all of us at The Courant,” said Carolyn Lumsden, opinion editor at The Courant.

Robert Schrepf worked on the editorial pages of The Hartford Courant for 25 years, starting in 1982. He was chief editorial writer, deputy editorial page editor and, finally, vice president and editorial page editor of The Courant when he retired in 2007.

Schrepf is a member of the Association of Opinion Journalists (formerly the National Conference of Editorial Writers) and is a long-time board member and former president of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. He is a board member of the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government.

He was a member of the NESNE committee that created the Judy Brown Spirit of Journalism Award that annually recognizes the life work of female journalists in New England.

Schrepf was editorial page editor of the Lincoln Star in Lincoln, Nebraska, before moving to Connecticut in 1982.

Additional Yankee Quill 2012 honorees include Robert Giles, former curator of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University; R. John Mitchell, publisher and owner of the Rutland Herald and The Barre Montpelier Times-Argus of Vermont; Robert Turner, former deputy editorial page editor of The Boston Globe; and Jack Williams, veteran television journalist and news anchor at WBZ-TV in Boston.