Campus News

Committee seeks dean for UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia Provost Jere Morehead has appointed a committee to begin a national search to fill the position of dean of UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Current dean E. Culpepper “Cully” Clark announced his intention to step down this past spring. He has served as dean since 2006.

“Dean Clark has shown great dedication and foresight in leading the Grady College, and he has devoted his life’s work to the advancement of journalism and mass communication,” Morehead said. “He extended his planned retirement as dean of the Grady College last year, and I appreciate his willingness to continue serving as dean while we undertake a national search for his successor.”

Sheila Allen, dean of UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine, will chair the search committee that includes faculty from each of the three departments within the Grady College, as well as staff, students and alumni of the college.

Faculty members on the search committee include Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, associate professor of public relations; Valerie Boyd, associate professor of journalism and the Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer-in-Residence; Itai Himelboim, assistant professor of telecommunications; Janice Hume, professor of journalism; Karen King, professor of advertising; William Lee, professor of telecommunications; Horace Newcomb, professor of telecommunications and director of the Peabody Awards; Tom Reichert, professor of advertising and head of the department of advertising and public relations; and Patricia Thomas, professor of journalism and the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism.

Brooke Rooks, assistant to the dean for business management, is the staff representative to the committee. Student representatives are Carolyn Crist, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Grady and is now pursuing a master’s degree in health and medical journalism, and Mary Grace Griffin, an undergraduate majoring in public relations.

Alumni members of the committee are Eddie Garrett, senior vice president and group director for Edelman Digital and a member of the Peabody Board and Grady Society Alumni Board; Amy Glennon, publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Swann Seiler, corporate support and external affairs manager for Georgia Power and immediate past president of Grady’s Board of Trust.

The committee will be assisted by UGA’s Executive and Faculty Search Group.

Established in 1915, the Grady College offers undergraduate majors in journalism, advertising, public relations, digital and broadcast journalism, and mass media arts. The college offers two graduate degrees and is home to the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information about the Grady College, see http://www.grady.uga.edu/.

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