Santa Clara University welcomes new endowed chair in journalism
Lehrman has distinguished herself as a writer and reporter on science and society for outlets including Scientific American, Nature, Health, Salon.com, and the radio documentary series The DNA Files, distributed by National Public Radio. She has been honored with a John S. Knight Fellowship and shares a Peabody award and Peabody/Robert Wood Johnson Award for excellence in health and medical programming, and a Columbia/Du Pont Silver Baton. She is no stranger to academia, having written chapters for scholarly textbooks on covering the sciences.
(Media-Newswire.com) - SANTA CLARA, CA – April 10, 2008. This fall, award-winning science journalist Sally Lehrman will become Santa Clara University's first Knight Ridder San Jose Mercury News Endowed Chair in Journalism and the Public Interest.
Lehrman has distinguished herself as a writer and reporter on science and society for outlets including Scientific American, Nature, Health, Salon.com, and the radio documentary series The DNA Files, distributed by National Public Radio. She has been honored with a John S. Knight Fellowship and shares a Peabody award and Peabody/Robert Wood Johnson Award for excellence in health and medical programming, and a Columbia/Du Pont Silver Baton. She is no stranger to academia, having written chapters for scholarly textbooks on covering the sciences.
"With its emphasis on social justice, Santa Clara offers a rare opportunity to merge my passions for practicing depth journalism, teaching students to report in a thoughtful way, and advocating for a news media that serves a just and democratic society," said Lehrman.
Lehrman is also an expert on diversity in journalism. She wrote News in a New America, a book that offers a fresh take on developing an inclusive U.S. news media. She has led diversity efforts in the Society of Professional Journalists as a national board member and is a University of Southern California Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism Senior Fellow on race. She contributes to the "Diversity at Work" blog maintained by the Poynter Institute, the leading center for journalism ethics and professional development.
As a new member of Santa Clara's Communication Department, Lehrman will work on a book about genetics and race. She will teach aspiring journalists and collaborate on projects to improve journalism's ability to serve the public at a time of rapid change in the profession.
She will be the first recipient of an endowed chair funded by the former Knight Ridder newspaper company and its flagship paper, the San Jose Mercury News. Tony Ridder, who served as chairman and CEO of Knight Ridder, now serves as a member of Santa Clara University's Board of Trustees.
"We're excited about Sally Lehrman's ability to have an impact across the campus," said search committee chair Chad Raphael, an Associate Professor of Communication. "She will inspire students to join a noble profession that is in transition and strengthen Santa Clara's ability to advance understanding of the ethics of journalism, diversity, and science in Silicon Valley."
Lehrman should be easy to spot on campus as she is likely to be accompanied by her Saint Bernard, Daisy.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California's Silicon Valley, offers its 8,685 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master's universities, California's oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
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