Rick McKee has been the editorial cartoonist for The Augusta Chronicle (Ga.) since January 1998.

Prior to that, he was the newspaper?s graphics editor for seven years, winning numerous in-house, state and national awards for his illustrations and graphics.

Before coming to Augusta, the Florida native was a graphics artist in Atlanta for the Journal and Constitution for two-and-a-half years.

McKee began his cartooning career during his sophomore year at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., drawing cartoons for the school newspaper, The Samford Crimson. While in college, his freelance cartoons regularly appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat and many other Florida newspapers.

After graduating in 1987 with a degree in graphic design, McKee got a job with the Gadsden County Times, a weekly newspaper in North Florida, as cartoonist/artist. He won first place in editorial cartooning in the 1988 Florida Press Association?s Better Newspaper contest.