2011 Alumni Professional Achievement Award Winner
Karen Brown Dunlap is president emerita of the Poynter Institute, one of the world’s most influential schools for journalism. She joined Poynter in 1989 as a faculty member, advanced to dean of the faculty, and became its president in 2003, serving until her retirement in 2014.
Dunlap received her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and her master’s degree from Tennessee State University before earning her PhD in mass communication from UT in 1982.
Prior to her time at Poynter, Dunlap taught at both the University of South Florida and Tennessee State University. She has spent more than 40 years educating journalists and co-authored The Effective Editor and The Editorial Eye, as well as authoring numerous academic and magazine articles. Her journalism career included stints as a reporter or staff writer at the Nashville Banner, the Macon News, and the St. Petersburg Times. From 1990 to 1993, she served as the co-editor and then editor of the Best Newspaper Writing series featuring the annual writing award winners of the American Society of News Editors. She has also served three times as a Pulitzer Prize jurist.
Dunlap has been active in the journalistic community, serving on the board of directors for the St. Petersburg Times Publishing Company and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation and on the board of trustees for Eckerd College. In 2000, she was honored with the Presidential Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). At UT, she has served on the College of Communication and Information Board of Visitors and received the college’s Hileman Award in 2005.
Karen Brown Dunlap is president emerita of the Poynter Institute, one of the world’s most influential schools for journalism. She joined Poynter in 1989 as a faculty member, advanced to dean of the faculty, and became its president in 2003, serving until her retirement in 2014.
Dunlap received her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and her master’s degree from Tennessee State University before earning her PhD in mass communication from UT in 1982.
Prior to her time at Poynter, Dunlap taught at both the University of South Florida and Tennessee State University. She has spent more than 40 years educating journalists and co-authored The Effective Editor and The Editorial Eye, as well as authoring numerous academic and magazine articles. Her journalism career included stints as a reporter or staff writer at the Nashville Banner, the Macon News, and the St. Petersburg Times. From 1990 to 1993, she served as the co-editor and then editor of the Best Newspaper Writing series featuring the annual writing award winners of the American Society of News Editors. She has also served three times as a Pulitzer Prize jurist.
Dunlap has been active in the journalistic community, serving on the board of directors for the St. Petersburg Times Publishing Company and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation and on the board of trustees for Eckerd College. In 2000, she was honored with the Presidential Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). At UT, she has served on the College of Communication and Information Board of Visitors and received the college’s Hileman Award in 2005.
