UNC’s journalism school names a new dean after months in the national spotlight
Raul Reis will be the next dean of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, starting in the next academic year.
Reis, a native of Brazil, joins UNC after serving as the dean of the School of Communication and a tenured professor at Emerson College in Boston since 2016. He also previously taught and served as dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Florida International University and taught at California State University, Long Beach.
Reis also worked as a journalist for Brazilian and U.S. news organizations, with reporting and editing experience in newspapers and television before making the move to academia.
“I am humbled and honored to have been chosen to serve as the next Dean of the Hussman School, which is home to some of the top journalism and media programs and initiatives in the country,” Reis said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more excited by the prospect of moving to North Carolina, and working side by side with this incredible group of award-winning faculty, staff and students. I would like to thank the Hussman community and the UNC leadership team for the warm welcome extended to me, and look forward to being there with all of you soon.”
UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Chris Clemens announced the news Friday.
“An internationally recognized leader, Reis brings 25 years of experience in academia and a track record for creating nationally ranked programs that have helped Emerson prepare students for the fast-paced world of digital media,” they wrote.
Digital first and diversity initiatives
As dean at Emerson, Reis oversaw the design and implementation of 10 of the school’s 18 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, many of which are nationally ranked, according to UNC. He also helped significantly grow enrollment at the school, which makes up nearly half of the student body, and recruited more faculty with “diverse expertise in new and innovative fields.”
His strategic plan was focused on interdisciplinary work and a digital-first curriculum that was hands-on and student-centered. He also helped develop the school’s diversity plan that included a “comprehensive curriculum audit to ensure equity and inclusion,” according to UNC.
Reis earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Universidade Federal do Pará in Brazil, a master of science in journalism and mass communication from Kansas State University and a doctorate in communication and society from the University of Oregon. Reis is also the president-elect of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Stepping into controversy
Reis will take over the reins of the journalism school months after Black journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’s tenure controversy that placed the university in the national spotlight last summer.
Dean Susan King announced her resignation last August, on the heels of that conflict, after leading the journalism school for nearly a decade. At the time, some questioned who would want to step into the role given the political and donor influences that came to light during that fight, particularly interference by the journalism school’s namesake and top donor, Walter Hussman.
Hannah-Jones, who won a Pulitzer prize for The New York Times’ 1619 Project, was hired to be the Knight Chair for Race and Investigative Journalism at UNC-CH without tenure, which had been granted to her predecessors. UNC-CH students, faculty and alumni protested on campus, arguing that conservative politics played into that decision. Hannah-Jones even threatened a federal lawsuit against the university for race and gender discrimination.
The campus Board of Trustees eventually voted to offer Hannah-Jones tenure, but she turned down the position and joined Howard University’s faculty instead.
Journalism school faculty have criticized the university’s handling of the situation and Hussman’s potential influence over the school.
Continuing a ‘positive trajectory’
In the announcement, Guskiewicz and Clemens noted the school’s recent and historic success winning Hearst National Championships, the most prestigious collegiate journalism award, and doctoral students winning the nation’s top mass communication research dissertation award. They also recognized the school’s fundraising success, as it surpassed its $75 million goal in the university’s historic Campaign for Carolina.
“Reis is well poised to continue the school’s positive trajectory,” they wrote.
He will also arrive on campus as the journalism school opens its new Curtis Media Center, which will be a “media and journalism education technology hub” on campus.
Reis was one of three finalists who met with faculty in interviews on campus in January. He will start in the new role July 1.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 11:55 AM with the headline "UNC’s journalism school names a new dean after months in the national spotlight."
