2018 spring Cronkite Convocation program

Convocation Program Spring 2018

Processional Welcome Keynote Speaker

Presentation of Degrees Doctoral Degree

Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees

Dean Christopher Callahan

Margaret Brennan, moderator of CBS News’ “Face The Nation” and CBS News’ senior foreign affairs correspondent

Dean Christopher Callahan Assistant Dean B. William Silcock Associate Professor Leslie-Jean Thornton Senior Associate Dean Kristin Gilger Associate Dean Mark Lodato Assistant Dean Rebecca Blatt

Special Awards

Outstanding Graduate Student

Jennifer Miller

ASU Alumni Association Outstanding Graduate Nicole Gutierrez Montes Outstanding Undergraduate Students

Alexandra Bice Christopher Cadeau Kendra Penningroth Ellen Pierce

Highest Grade Point Average in Journalism Sloane McGowan

Highest Grade Point Average in Media Studies Dayle Hebert

Top Innovator Award Alena Sanderson Skyler Snider Cronkite Spirit Award Kristiana Faddoul Carson Mlnarik Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society

Alexander Argeros Michael Baron Bryce Bozadjian Delilah Cassidy Simran Dave Adriana De Alba Nicole Dusanek Kristiana Faddoul Tyler Fingert

Moeur Award

Alexander Argeros Kristiana Faddoul

Tynin Fries

Alicia Gonzales Isabel Greenblatt Nicole Hernandez Ellanna Koontz Madeleine Liseblad Sydney Maki Sloane McGowan Bailey Netsch

Isabel Greenblatt Nicole Hernandez

Justin Toscano Keerthi Vedantam

Kendra Penningroth Nicole Praga Tea Price Kristy Roschke Skyler Snider Madison Stark Sierra Theobald Lisa Travis

Sloane McGowan Madison Stark

Student Speaker

Recessional

Platform Guests

Isabel Greenblatt

Margaret Brennan

Moderator of CBS News’ “Face The Nation” and CBS News’ senior foreign affairs correspondent Isabel Greenblatt Student speaker

Anita Luera 2018 Alumni Hall of Fame inductee Mary Mazur General Manager, Arizona PBS

Fran K. Mallace and Michael H. Mallace Alumni and Cronkite Endowment Board representatives

Keynote Speaker >>> Margaret Brennan

Margaret Brennan is moderator of CBS News’ “Face the Nation” and CBS News’ senior foreign affairs correspondent.

Brennan, who became moderator of the influential CBS News program in February, is currently the only woman serving as a solo anchor of a major Sunday political affairs show. “Face the Nation” is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television, having debuted Nov. 7, 1954, on CBS. Brennan is 10th in a long line of distinguished journalists who have previously held the anchor position, including Bob Schieffer, Howard K. Smith and Lesley Stahl.

Since joining CBS News in 2012, Brennan has covered the Obama and Trump administrations. At the State Department, she reported on major national security stories, including nuclear negotiations with Iran, restoration of diplomatic ties with Cuba and the standoff with North Korea. In 2017, she was named White House and senior

foreign affairs correspondent.

Brennan also was part of the CBS News team honored with a 2012-2013 Alfred I. duPontColumbia University Award for coverage of the Newtown tragedy.

Prior to joining CBS News, Brennan spent a decade covering the global financial markets, serving as an anchor and correspondent for Bloomberg Television and CNBC. She began her career as a producer at CNBC.

Brennan graduated with highest distinction in 2002 from the University of Virginia, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs and Middle East studies with a minor in Arabic. As a Fulbright-Hays Scholar, she studied Arabic at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan.

She is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations and sits on the advisory board for the University of Virginia School of Politics.

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

The Cronkite School is widely recognized as one of the nation’s premier professional journalism programs. Rooted in the time-honored values of accuracy, responsibility, objectivity and integrity that characterize its namesake, the school fosters journalistic excellence and ethics among students as they master the practical professional skills they need to succeed in the digital journalism world of today and tomorrow.

The Cronkite School’s 2,000 students consistently lead the country in national competitions. Over the past decade, Cronkite has been No. 1 in the nation in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence competition and the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts awards and has finished in the top 10 in the Hearst Journalism Awards each year. Cronkite students annually win more than 100 journalism and public relations awards.

Students are guided by a faculty that is made up of both award-winning professional journalists, strategic communications executives and world-class media scholars. Cronkite professors include Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, digital media thought leaders, top TV producers and correspondents, major metropolitan newspaper editors and strategic communications experts. They are master teachers, writers and scholars

who often speak around the globe on the most important topics facing journalism today.

The Cronkite School leads the field of journalism education with its innovative use of the “teaching hospital” method, providing both unparalleled learning opportunities for students and important news content to the community, state, region and nation. Arizona PBS, one of the nation’s largest public television stations, is the largest media outlet operated by a journalism school in the world. Arizona PBS serves as a hub for the Cronkite School’s full-immersion professional programs and a testing ground for new approaches in journalism.

Cronkite students choose from among 13 different professional immersion programs, applying what they have learned in the classroom in real-world learning environments. Students cover public affairs from news bureaus in Phoenix and Washington, and they cover sports from bureaus in Phoenix and Los Angeles. For Arizona PBS, they produce a nightly newscast that reaches 1.9 million households as well as a robust multimedia news website featuring in-depth regional stories. In Cronkite Noticias, bilingual students produce Spanish-language broadcast and digital stories on issues important to Arizonans.

Students in the Public Relations Lab develop

campaigns for client companies, while Carnegie-Knight News21 multimedia journalists conduct national datadriven investigations into issues critical to Americans. In the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, they use digital technologies to forge the future of journalism.

Recently, the Cronkite School launched a studentproduced TV news magazine airing on Arizona PBS in prime time that spotlights the innovative research at ASU. The school also has created a Facebooksupported collaborative aimed at helping people find new ways of understanding and engaging with news and information as well as a news collaborative focusing on sustainability and a bureau examining the intersection of sport and society.

Elsewhere at the school, the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism provides education and training to professional journalists and Cronkite Global Initiatives brings international journalists to the school for study and training.

All of these initiatives take place in a state-of-the-art building that is unparalleled in journalism education. ASU’s investment in the school has generated national and international attention from educators and media professionals who place the school in the top tier of all U.S. journalism schools. The Times of London, The New York Times and USA Today have pointed to the Cronkite School as a leading example of changes taking place at journalism schools across the country. These prestigious publications have called the Cronkite School a pioneer, kindling a notion of new media that will shape how news is delivered and how people will stay informed in the future.

About Our Graduates 11,000 alumni +

The Cronkite School has more than 11,000 alumni throughout the Valley, across the country and around the world. Many are leaders in television, digital media, newspapers, radio, magazines and public relations.

In 1993, the Cronkite School inducted its first class into the Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame. The charter inductees were Al Michaels (’66), an Emmy Awardwinning sports broadcaster best known for anchoring “Monday Night Football,” and Bill Redeker (’71), an ABC News correspondent who covered the Middle East and the Far East during his 30 years with the network.

Other notable Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame inductees include Nicole Carroll (’91), editor-in-chief of USA Today; Becky Anderson (’94), CNN International anchor; Julie Cart (’98), Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times reporter; Derrick Hall (’91), president of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Christine Devine (’87), news anchor at FOX 11 in Los Angeles; Mary Kim Titla (’85), founder of Native Youth Magazine; Ray Artigue (’76), president of The Artigue Agency; and Chip Dean (’77), director of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”

Doctor of Philosophy in Journalism and Mass Communication

Ashley Gimbal “The Framing of Terrorism: How American and International Television News Script a Global Drama”

Madeleine Liseblad “The Role of American Consultants in the Development of Television News Broadcasting in the United Kingdom in the 1990s”

Kristy Roschke “Gatekeeping as a Media Literacy Practice: An Examination of the Gatekeeping Practices of Participants in a Digital Media Literacy Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)”

Master of Journalism and Mass Communication

Grace Clark

Adriana De Alba

Tyler Fingert

Tynin Fries Alexis Hart Timothy Johns

Fortesa Latifi Sydney Maki Jennifer Miller Bailey Netsch Tyler Paley Nicole Praga

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication

Sydney Abeyta

Olusayo Akao Crystal Alvarez ** Olivia Anderson ** Drew Andre

Erica Apodaca

Alexander Argeros *** ^ Brianna Arreguin-Malloy ** Ericka Arrington *

Allison Bailey * Austin Bailey

Scotty Bara

Leslie Barrera *

Victoria Bartelt

Farai Bennett Samantha Bero

Jessica Bertram

Alexandra Bice ** Micah Bledsoe **

Jordan Blitz

Holly Bock *

Dannika Borges

Meagan Boudreau *

Bryce Bozadjian *** Jennifer Brewer ** ^

Megan Bridgeman * Katie Brown *

Austen Browne *

Lilia Calvillo *

Aydali Campa Lopez * ^

Jillian Carapella *** Kara Carlson ^

Taylor Carmichael

Jonathan Castro

Mersedes Cervantes-Arroyo * ^ Manali Chavan ** ^ Sierra Ciaramella Claire Cleveland Brooke Coltelli ** Devon Cordell Summer Cordero-Torres Nicole Costantino Desiree Cunningham * ^ Kevin Cusack

Gabriel Cushing Joshua Cutlip * ^ Olivia Davila Brianna Davis Brooke Degumbia Ciara Delgado Freesia Denaples Edder Diaz Martinez *** ^ Jackson Dorsey ** Bridget Dowd * Nicole Dusanek *** Amy Edelen Carli Engers * ^ Ciara Escalante * Tristan Ettleman * Juliana Evans Kristiana Faddoul *** Nathanial Finston ** Jamie Fossenkemper Jeanne Gallagher * Gabriel Gamiño Guerrero *** Kevyn Gessner Joseph Gilmore Nicole Gimpl *

Téa Price

Chloe Ranshaw Gabriel Sandler

Veronica Stodolnik Dorighello Matthew Tonis Alexandra Watts

Abigail Golder * ^

Alicia Gonzales *** ^ Emma Green ** Isabel Greenblatt *** ^ Lindsey Greenwood ** Nicole Gutierrez Montes ** Savannah Haas Lindsay Hahn *** Ashley Halpern * Morgan Hancock Carly Hanson ** Atlan Hassard ** Devon Henry *** Nicole Hernandez *** ^ Samuel Herndon ** Tatum Hubbell Johanna Huckeba ** Sydney Isenberg ** Benjamin Jacobs Joseph Jacquez ** Eric Jakows * Megan Janetsky * Tamara Juarez * Daria Kadovik * Megan Kappus * Clara Kennedy Melissa King Emily Kingsley Kaitlyn Klonowski * ^ Ellanna Koontz *** ^ Ian Kraft ** Sierra Laduke ** ^ Cassidy Landaker Noelle Lilley *

Izzy Greenblatt is graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication and a minor in digital audiences.

Greenblatt was a leader at the Cronkite School, where she began as a volunteer freshman camera operator at Cronkite News, the student-produced news division of Arizona PBS. From there, she worked her way up to directing and technical directing the live newscasts in her junior and senior years.

by the Broadcast Education Association.

Greenblatt also assisted production for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” and Pac-12 Network games for the past three years. She held internships at The Arizona Republic and azcentral. com, the Envida Group and KSDK-TV, the NBC affiliate in her hometown of St. Louis. Additionally, she studied abroad in Paris for a semester.

As a director of the Cronkite News newscast, Greenblatt played a key role in the program’s 2016 election coverage, which was named the best newscast

role in the program’s 2016

Greenblatt’s interest in digital audiences started after helping with audience research for “Hooked Rx,” a documentary on prescription opioid addiction that reached more than 900,000 viewers across the

state. From there, she took the digital audiences minor and earned her Google Analytics certification.

She plans to pursue a career in social media and digital audience research.

Shelby Lindsay Emily Lockwood

Jasmyne Lott

Joan Magtibay ** Kathleen Malles * ^ Drew Marine

David Marino *** Lauren Marshall *** Katriona Martin * Azucena Martinez *** Kaytlin Martino Brittany Mattox *** Lahela Maxwell Katie McEwen Sloane McGowan *** ^ Blakely McHugh ** Lindsey McIntosh Megan Meier

Samuel Mena * Angel Mendoza * Miles Metke

Austin Miller Faith Miller * ^ Holly Miller

Madison Miller * Michelle Minahen Carson Mlnarik *** ^ Benjamin Moffat Ava Montoya

Bailee Moore Alicia Morales Ivana Morales Madison Mosley Connor Murphy *** ^ Ashley Musil Nikita Naik * Mari Nelson Allie Newman * Andrew Nicla Elisabeth Niman * Taylor Notah * Kevin Palacios Rodriguez Nicolae Patean

Kendra Penningroth *** ^ Ellen Pierce *** ^ Melody Pierce ** Demitria Pilatos Samantha Pouls ** ^ Mark Quinones Marisela Ramirez Holly Ratner ** Emily Richardson Aubrey Rumore Monica Sampson ** Marissa Sanchez Alena Sanderson ** ^ Ryan Santistevan * Ann Marie Schlup *** Tatum Smith *

Skyler Snider *** Madison Spence Madison Stark *** ^ Jesse Stawnyczy Tanner Stechnij Melissa Stocks Jessica Suerth Cataleya Supawit *** Stephen Sydnor Melissa Szenda ** Adia Taylor Boikanyo Tefu ** Sierra Theobald *** Krista Tillman *** ^ Taylor Transtrum ** Lisa Travis *** ^ Alex Valdez

Keerthi Vedantam * Alyssa Villegas Bailey Vogt Briann Wagner

Brendan Joseph Walker Noah Weinberg

Christopher West Alexandra Whitten * Cameron Wiggins Alexander Wright Savanah Yaghsezian *** Jade Nicole Yeban * ^ Margaret Yirenkyi **

Katie McEwen Sloane McGowan *** ^ Samuel Mena * Angel Mendoza *

Benjamin Moffat Ava Montoya

Bachelor of Arts in Sports Journalism

Rafael Alvarez ***

Michael Baron *** ^

Kelly Broderick ** Landon Brown

Christopher Cadeau ** Delilah Cassidy *** ^ Graysen Choy ** Joshua Clark

Ryan Clarke

Perry Cohen

Rebecca Dantuono * Simran Dave *** ^ Kaci Demarest ** ^ Weston DeWitt

Alexander Didion Colton Dodgson Avery Dorfman

Jalen Fong

Amanda Foster Chaz Frazier Noah Friedman ** Robert Gundran * Mark Harris Hailey Hole Jacob Janower Kyle Kercheval ^ Troy Lynch * Drew Martin *** ^ Matthew McClure Gabrielle Mercer Skye Merida * Andrew Millan Jamie Nish Faith Phares

Oliver Pimm

Terra Pinckley

Jorge Ramos Hunter Robinson * Yvette Sanchez Omar Soussi Tyler Strachan Justin Toscano ** Kendall Valenzuela Ariana Vallejo Mitchell Vareldzis Christopher Whitcomb * Madeline Witt * Kathryn Woo * Luke Wright

Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Media Studies

Brent Adams ***

Christina Billhartz *** Angelina Bondanza Nicolita Bradley Jeffrey Brand ** Tiara Brown Sarah Browne Jody Carroll

Gabrielle Catalano * Joselyn Cegelka Fuller Jillian Chiaro Jacob Cohen

Chelsea Colden Megan Cordero *** Samantha Cornwall * Michael Davalos

Natalie Dove Tabitha Dudley Holli Edmonds

Laura Egger

Justine Fisher *** Amy Fox

Jessica Geranio Abbigail Gibbs Ryan Granger

Kyle Hall

Scarlett Hannon * Jasmine Hanson David Harrison Dayle Hebert *** Leslie Helm Kaylyn Hohn *** Cameron Holloway ** Shannon Hughes *** Krista Humbles ** Tanner Iskra Mark Jamieson Kevin Johnson Teryn Jones Ava Lasiewski Gerry LeBlond Lindsey Luna Kelley Macdonald Dana Manuel Nohadra Marokeel * Miranda Masek ** Sadie McHugh Taylor McNeilly Paige McPhillips Casandra Mejia *** Loretta Miller-Rodriguez Adrienne Paulson ***

Megan Perez Nicholas Poteat Betinna Preyer Eduardo Razo William Rock Alexandra Russom Dorothy Salavea *** Kristina Sanger *** Vinessa Scott Rebecca Shannon Vanessa Spriet Katherine Stephens Adam Stewart Timothy Strange ** Yvonne Strozier Jerick Tafoya Alfonso Toxqui Balbuena *** Abbygale Valverde Philip Vasquez Maiaika Velasquez Justin Villa Chase Volz Britney Walker *** Madison Watson * Ericah Whitmill

Honors designations

Academic recognition is granted to undergraduate candidates only:

* Cum Laude – GPA of 3.40 to 3.59 ** Magna Cum Laude – GPA of 3.60 to 3.79 *** Summa Cum Laude – GPA of 3.80 and above ^ Graduate of Barrett, The Honors College

Cronkite School Faculty

Craig M. Allen

Ph.D., Ohio University

Melanie Asp Alvarez

M.L.S., Arizona State University

Douglas A. Anderson

Ph.D., Southern Illinois University

Marianne Barrett

Ph.D., Michigan State University

Rebecca Blatt

M.B.A., American University

Paola Boivin

B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Karen Bordeleau

M.A., University of Rhode Island

Sharon Bramlett-Solomon Ph.D., Indiana University

Peter Byck

B.F.A., California Institute of the Arts

Christopher Callahan

M.P.A., Harvard University

Michael Casavantes

Ph.D., Arizona State University

Monica Chadha Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

Sarah Cohen

M.A., University of Maryland

John E. Craft

Ph.D., Ohio University

Steve Crane M.B.A., University of Maryland Steve Doig B.A., Dartmouth College

Leonard Downie Jr. M.A., The Ohio State University

Heather Lovett Dunn

B.A., University of Mississippi Tom Feuer

B.A., University of California, Los Angeles Steve Filmer

B.S., Boston University

Kristin Gilger

M.A., University of Nebraska

Dan Gillmor

B.A., University of Vermont

Dawn Gilpin

Ph.D., Temple University

Mark Hass

B.A., State University of New York at Buffalo

Venita Hawthorne James B.A., Lincoln University

Retha Hill

M.A., Arizona State University

Jim Jacoby

M.A.S., Arizona State University

Kathy Kudravi

B.S., Kent State University

Affiliated Faculty

Lindsey Collom

B.A., Arizona State University

Valeria Fernández B.A., Arizona State University

Brett Kurland M.B.A., Northwestern University K. Hazel Kwon Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo Andrew Leckey M.A., University of Missouri Christina Leonard B.A., University of Oklahoma Susan Lisovicz B.A., William Paterson University Mark Lodato M.Ed., Arizona State University Andrés Martinez J.D., Columbia University Fran R. Matera Ph.D., University of Miami John Misner B.L.S., Arizona State University Eric Newton M.A., University of Birmingham Mi-Ai Parrish B.S., University of Maryland Jacquee Petchel B.A., Arizona State University Jessica Pucci M.A., University of Missouri Mark Reda B.A., University of California, Los Angeles Sada J. Reed Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Virgil Renzulli B.A., University of Pennsylvania Walter V. Robinson B.A., Northeastern University Rick Rodriguez B.A., Stanford University Vanessa Ruiz B.S., Florida International University Dennis E. Russell Ph.D., University of Utah Joseph Russomanno Ph.D., University of Colorado Boulder Fernanda Santos M.S., Boston University Kenneth L. Shropshire J.D., Columbia University B. William Silcock Ph.D., University of Missouri Leslie-Jean Thornton Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Julia Wallace B.S., Northwestern University Xu Wu Ph.D., University of Florida

Jason Manning M.A., George Mason University Terry Greene Sterling M.F.A., Goucher College

Faculty Emeriti

Troy F. Crowder

M.A., University of Iowa

Robert Ellis

M.A., Case Western Reserve University Mary-Lou Galician

Ed.D., Memphis State University

Donald G. Godfrey Ph.D., University of Washington

Endowment Board of Trustees

Executive Committee

Anita Helt, President

Vice president and general manager, ABC15/KNXV-TV

David Bodney, past president

Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

Roy K. Halverson

Ph.D., University of Illinois Frederic “Fritz” Leigh Ed.D., Arizona State University Tim McGuire

J.D., William Mitchell College of Law George Watson Ph.D., Duke University

Christopher Callahan, Dean, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Tom Chauncey, chair, Nominations Committee

Attorney, Gust Rosenfeld

John Hatfield, chair, Development Committee Vice president of communications, APS Win Holden, chair, Assessment Publisher, Arizona Highways Magazine

Fran Mallace, chair, Luncheon Committee

Vice president, Cox Media

Diane Veres, chair, Mentoring President and general manager, Clear Channel Outdoor

Board Members

Ray Artigue, chief advisor, Artigue Advisors

Susan Bitter Smith, executive director, Southwest Cable Communications Association

Art Brooks, president and CEO, Arizona Broadcasters Association

Elizabeth Murphy Burns, president and chief executive officer, Morgan Murphy Media Paula Casey, executive director, Arizona Newspapers Association

Andrew Deschapelles, president and general manager, Telemundo Arizona

Dean Ditmer, president and general manager, 12 News

David Eichler, founder and creative director, Decibel Blue Creative Marketing and PR Elvira Espinoza, chief communications officer, Raza Development Fund

Kristin Gilger, senior associate dean, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Derrick Hall, president and CEO, Arizona Diamondbacks

Scott Harkey, president, OH Partners

Brian Hogan, senior vice president and general manager, FOX Sports Arizona

Gordon James, owner, Gordon C. James Public Relations

Laura Jordan, director of benefactor relations, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Faith Community

Susan Karis, vice president sales, Hubbard Radio Phoenix

Beau Lane, founder and CEO, LaneTerralever Linda Little, president, Arizona Region, iHeartMedia Lynn Londen, CEO, AZTV Channel 7 Michael Mallace, general manager, Sierra H Broadcasting

Mary Mazur, general manager, Arizona PBS Art Mobley, CEO, AdviceAd Mary Morrison, Mary M Media

Ed Munson, vice president and general manager, CBS 5 and 3TV, KTVK-TV

Jim Paluzzi, vice president, division of public service, Rio Salado College, KJZZ/KBAQ

Tim Riester, president and CEO, RIESTER

Mark Rodman, vice president and general manager, Fox 10 / KSAZ-TV Phoenix

Ray Schey, publisher, Phoenix Business Journal

Matt Silverman, principal, PulsePoint Group

Curtis Steinhoff, vice president of communications, BIG YAM

Robert Stieve, editor, Arizona Highways Magazine

Scott Sutherland, vice president and market manager, Bonneville Media

Traci Wilkinson, vice president and general manager, KASW-TV Your Phoenix CW Clancy Woods, president, D Mobile

Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

ASU’s journalism program was named in honor of former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite in 1984.

The relationship started when Tom Chauncey, longtime owner of the CBS affiliate in Phoenix and a leading supporter of journalism education at ASU, contacted his old friend in an effort to advance the program. An endowment on behalf of the program was soon established, and the school was named after “the most trusted man in America.”

Over the next quarter of a century, Cronkite lent much more than his name to the school. He was closely involved — advising leadership, guiding students and faculty and traveling to Arizona each year to personally give the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism to one of the nation’s top journalists. The most special relationship, though, was with “our students,” as Cronkite would always call them. Young women and men, some with parents barely old enough to remember Cronkite behind the anchor desk, lit up when he walked into a classroom. They hung on his every word as he thoughtfully answered their questions about the profession he so loved. They lined up just to shake his hand, and he loved every minute of it.

In what turned out to be Cronkite’s last visit to ASU in 2007 before declining health prevented him from traveling, a group of 100 students gathered with just a few minutes of notice that Cronkite was in the building. He held them spellbound as he spoke about covering World War II, Vietnam, Apollo, Watergate and presidents from Truman to Reagan — and of how important “our school” was to him. Although Cronkite died on July 17, 2009, before he was able to visit the new building, he remains an ever-present part of the school’s heartbeat and direction.

Cronkite’s legacy lives on in the spirit and passion with which the school teaches both the skills to do journalism in today’s media environment and the time-honored ethics and news values necessary to do it in the manner that would make him proud.

The Cronkite School has established a special memorial fund in Cronkite’s name. For more information on the fund and to learn more about Cronkite’s legacy and career, visit cronkite.asu.edu/rememberingcronkite.

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