EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro and Provost Dan Linzer today announced the appointment of Everette E. Dennis as Dean of Northwestern University in Qatar.
Everette Dennis, currently the Felix E. Larkin Distinguished Professor and Chairperson of Communication and Media Management at Fordham University Business School, will join Northwestern University in Qatar effective June 1, 2011. He succeeds founding Dean John D. Margolis, who has served as the dean of NU-Q since its inception in 2007.
Professor Dennis, who is also currently the Director of the Center for Communications at Fordham and Executive Director of the International Longevity Center-USA in New York City, is widely recognized and respected in the fields of communication and journalism, and more broadly within higher education, as a scholar, author, educator, and educational leader. He earned his Ph.D. in mass communication, constitutional law and history from the University of Minnesota, and has held advanced fellowships at Harvard Law School and Harvard’s Institute of Politics. He earned an A.M. from Syracuse University in communication and a B.S. in journalism/political science from the University of Oregon.
Northwestern University Provost Dan Linzer stated, “We are very excited about the transition from the exceptional leadership of John Margolis as founding Dean to the new leadership and directions at NU-Q that will be undertaken by Everette Dennis. We will look forward to thanking Dean Margolis this winter and spring for his service through the exciting phases of operational start-up, curricular expansion, and community growth.”
Dean John Margolis expressed his congratulations, stating, “I am certain that the entire NU-Q community joins me in applauding the appointment of Everette Dennis as the next dean. He will bring to our thriving campus both a wealth of administrative experience and an international reputation as a scholar in the fields of communication and journalism.”
Commenting from his office at Fordham University in New York, Everette Dennis stated, “It will be a great privilege to serve as dean of NU-Q, which is part of one of the most important educational collaborations in the world today, bringing together the best of Northwestern University’s traditions in journalism and communication with the Qatar Foundation and the other institutions of Education City.”
He further commented, “Building on NU-Q’s fine beginnings, my goal and that of the NU-Q community is to contribute to the transformation of communication and media in what is now a digital and global world. The critical task is to inspire and nurture the best possible talent for the present and future. I look forward to working strategically and creatively with colleagues in Doha on the next phase of what is already an exciting trajectory for the university.”
Professor Dennis’ previous experience also includes serving as Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon; Director of Graduate Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, and as the founding director of the Media Studies Center at Columbia University, which he led while also serving as the senior vice president of the Gannett and Freedom Forum Foundations.
Professor Dennis also has extensive international experience that will serve Northwestern very well in Qatar. He served as founding President of the American Academy in Berlin, as a trustee at the International Institute of Communications and International Center for Journalists, and as the Executive Director of the International University Consortium for Freedom Forum. He is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has been a consultant and lecturer in more than 50 countries.
In addition, Professor Dennis has authored, co-authored, and edited some 45 books, including two in 2010 — Understanding Media in the Digital Age; and the reissue of Other Voices: The New Journalism in America. Other works include The Media Society, Media Debates, Justice Black & The First Amendment, as well as studies of media in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and East Asia. His influential coauthored media text with Melvin L. DeFleur, Understanding Mass Communication, was published in seven editions, and his books have been translated into 14 languages. He has served on the editorial board of several international media journals, and is the founding editor of Media Studies Journal.
