Four Veteran Journalists Chosen for Inaugural Reynolds Visiting Business Journalism Professors Program

PHOENIX, Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Four journalists have been named the inaugural Reynolds visiting business journalism professors at Colorado State University, Grambling State University, Texas Christian University and the University of South Carolina under a $1.67 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

The five-year program will ultimately create 11 visiting professorships at 11 different schools. It is administered through the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The inaugural visiting professors, who will teach in the spring semester of 2012, are:

• Karen Blumenthal at Texas Christian University. Blumenthal, the author of several business books, writes The Wall Street Journal's "Getting Going" column and is its former Dallas bureau chief.
• Rob Reuteman at Colorado State University. Reuteman, a freelance business journalist, is a former business editor of the Rocky Mountain News and former president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
• Will Sutton at Grambling State University. Sutton, a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists, has held senior management positions at daily newspapers that include The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. He is a former Nieman Fellow.
• Rob Wells at the University of South Carolina. Wells is deputy bureau chief for Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal in Washington, and previously worked for Bloomberg News and The Associated Press.

The professorships will enable students at the four universities to get valuable training in a specialized and increasingly critical area of journalism, said Andrew Leckey, president of the Reynolds Center and the Reynolds Chair in Business Journalism at the Cronkite School.

"We are delighted with the quality of the initial visiting professors and the commitment of the journalism programs at these four universities to business journalism," Leckey said. "The professors and universities underscore the relevance and professionalism of this important field, which is a positive sign for the remainder of this program."

Besides teaching courses in business journalism, visiting professors will help establish partnerships with local media and contribute to BusinessJournalism.org, the Reynolds Center's site to help journalists cover business better. The program also includes funding for student internships and guest lectures by professional business journalists.

The new Reynolds Visiting Professorships are modeled on successful programs at Washington and Lee University and the Cronkite School. The Reynolds Center also has sponsored a four-day seminar for prospective business journalism professors for the past five years.

TO BECOME OR HOST A VISITING PROFESSOR IN 2013

Three more accredited journalism programs will be selected next year to host visiting business journalism professors in spring 2013.

• Prospective universities can apply at Visiting Professor Program – University Application
• Prospective visiting business journalism professors can apply at Visiting Professor Program – Professor Application.

ABOUT THE REYNOLDS CENTER

Since 2003, more than 10,000 journalists have learned to cover business better through free training from the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. The center is at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University's Phoenix campus. The center offers regional workshops and Webinars, as well as daily tips to cover business better at BusinessJournalism.org.

It is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.

Contact: Andrew Leckey, 602-496-9186, [email protected].

SOURCE Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism