Northwestern’s Medill journalism school appoints new dean

As a graduate of and donor to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, I received this email:

Jeff,
Good morning, please see the below message from Provost Holloway, which is confidential until 9:30 a.m., when the announcement will be publicly released.

Dear Medill alumni,

I am delighted to write today to tell you I have appointed Charles Whitaker to be the dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Below is the news release that will be going out at 9:30 a.m. announcing this news publicly.

While we were pleased to attract a great deal of talent in our national search, ultimately it was clear that Charles is the right person to guide Medill into its next chapter. I have tremendous confidence in his ability to lead, educate and advocate for all members of the Medill community. He has done exemplary work as the interim dean.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Medill search committee chair Edward Malthouse for his leadership in guiding this faculty-led search, as well as members of the committee for all their excellent work.

Charles is the first Medill alumnus to be chosen as dean, and he is deeply committed to the school’s twin missions of journalism and integrated marketing communications. It’s hard to think of a time when those missions were as critical as they are today.

Author: jeffpelline

Jeff Pelline is a veteran editor and award-winning journalist - in print and online. He is publisher of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine and its website SierraCulture.com. Jeff covered business and technology for The San Francisco Chronicle for 12 years, and he was a founding editor and Editor of CNET News for eight years, among other positions. Jeff has a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and a master's from Northwestern University. His hobbies include sailing, swimming, and trout fishing in the Sierra. View all posts by jeffpelline