Benjamin Wermund is the Pro Education reporter for POLITICO Pro. Prior to joining POLITICO, he covered higher education at the Houston Chronicle, where he showed a knack for aggressive accountability reporting. His stories exposed the mismanagement of a $425 million bond program at Houston Community College, the questionable spending on a $128 million football stadium at the University of Houston, and UH's decision to spend big on a commencement day speaker: actor Matthew McConaughey was paid more than $135,000 for a 45-minute speech. Ben's education beat reporting was a national finalist for an Education Writers Association award. Prior to working at the Chronicle, Ben covered K-12 education for the Austin American-Statesman.