Thursday, January 03, 2002
Freedom Forum names 2002 Journalism Administrator of the Year
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ARLINGTON, Va. — Richard W. Lee, head of the department of journalism and mass communication at South Dakota State University, has been named the Freedom Forum Journalism Administrator of the Year for 2002.
The award recognizes outstanding leadership in the advancement of journalism education. A panel of judges chose Lee from nominations submitted to the Freedom Forum.
Lee receives a medal and $10,000, and the Freedom Forum will give an additional $10,000 grant to South Dakota State University. Jack Marsh, director of the Freedom Forum Neuharth Center, will present the award on Jan. 7 at the Reform Center Library in London in conjunction with the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC) annual meeting.
“Richard W. Lee is a nationally recognized leader in journalism education,” said Charles L. Overby, chairman and chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum. “With his vision, commitment and selfless involvement in all aspects of journalism education, he has made extraordinary contributions to the profession and to the field of higher education. We’re delighted to recognize his many talents and achievements with this award.”
Lee has served as a professor and head of the department of journalism and mass communication at South Dakota State University for 24 years. Prior to that, he taught at the University of Maryland’s College of Journalism from 1968 to 1977 and was an instructor in the humanities division at Southern Illinois University from 1961 to 1966. He and his wife were exchange professors at Yunnan Normal University in Kunming, China, for five months. The third generation of a publishing family in southern Illinois, he began his career in journalism at age 6 as a columnist for a local weekly newspaper. He holds a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois-Urbana.
Dr. Lee has received many academic and professional awards, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln dean’s award for exemplary service to journalism education, the South Dakota Newspaper Association Distinguished Achievement Award and the AEJMC Scholastic Division’s Robert Knight Minority Recruitment Award.
During his tenure at South Dakota State University, the journalistic program has been re-accredited four times, and between 1994 and 2000 every journalism graduate went to work in the media industry.
Richard Lee is a champion of journalism diversity. Under his leadership, the department has reached out to the Native American community in South Dakota. His students regularly visit reservations in the state to interview residents for articles that appear in the department’s South Dakota Observer publication. He is a founding organizer of the annual Native American Newspaper Career Conference held at the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota, which is funded by the Freedom Forum and co-sponsored by the South Dakota Newspaper Association.
Previous winners of the Freedom Forum Journalism Administrator of the Year award include Trevor R. Brown, Indiana University; Jo-Ann Huff Albers, Western Kentucky University; Robert M. Ruggles, Florida A&M University; Terry Hynes and Ralph Lowenstein (retired), University of Florida; Douglas Anderson, when he was at Arizona State University; Reese Cleghorn, University of Maryland; the late Edward P. Bassett, University of Washington; Richard Cole, University of North Carolina; Walter Bunge (retired), Ohio State University; James Carey, formerly of the University of Illinois; and Neal Copple (retired), University of Nebraska.
Nominations for future awards can be made by Oct. 1 of each year to Jack Marsh, Director of the Freedom Forum Neuharth Center, the Freedom Forum, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, S.D., 57069. A resume or curriculum vitae for the nominee should accompany nominating letters.
Media contacts: Jack Marsh, 605/677-6315, or Beth Tuttle, 703/284-3722.
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