Tom Kunkel, who as journalism school dean recruited Pulitzer Prize-winning faculty, raised money for a new building and weathered the Jayson Blair plagiarism controversy – all without ever teaching a class beforehand – announced yesterday he’s leaving the school.

Kunkel will leave this summer to become president of St. Norbert College, a liberal arts school in eastern Wisconsin.

Now 52, Kunkel had worked for 25 years as a reporter and editor before becoming dean of the journalism school eight years ago. Although he never earned his doctorate or worked as a professor, Kunkel drove the school to the top of national rankings.

“It was a privilege to have been given a chance to be dean, most especially because of the relationships I’ve built with students,” Kunkel said.

But the move toward college presidency is still an odd shift for a man who once said he’d never enter academia. He had worked in newspapers since he started at the Evansville Courier when he was 16 and at 29 became the youngest executive editor in the history of the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain when he held the top job at Georgia’s Columbus Ledger-Inquirer.

He originally came to the college for the chance to work on a series of stories about the state of American newspapers for American Journalism Review, a magazine affiliated with the school. Once he finished the project, he trained experienced journalists for a brief stint before Reese Cleghorn stepped down as dean and Kunkel found himself in the position.

As he moves almost entirely into the realm of academia, he says he’ll miss journalism’s unpredictability.

“In journalism, you never really know what’s going to happen that day when you get up,” Kunkel said. “It’s never dull.”

Still, Kunkel said he’s used many of the skills he’s learned in journalism – relationship-building, storytelling, the ability to converse – as a university administrator. He’s raised $50 million as dean, and university President Dan Mote said the connection between his two jobs is clear.

“He’s very personable and easy to work with,” Mote said. “You can have a conversation with him in a very carefree manner.”

For his part, Kunkel said he was most proud of raising about $50 million while at the university, $30 million of which will be used to fund the new, high-tech journalism building to be completed in 2010 at a time when tight budgets in Annapolis have blocked construction projects across the state.

The fundraising was no small feat. In 2003, Kunkel grappled with a national controversy after an investigation found high-profile alumnus Jayson Blair fabricated and plagiarized stories in the New York Times after his time at the college.

Blair was fired from the Times and the school’s credibility was hit. But Kunkel’s ability to promote the school despite the scandal impressed Elizabeth Buckley, chair of St. Norbert College’s presidential search.

“Tom Kunkel is a creative fundraiser and he likes it,” she said. “It’s easy for people to think you have to ask for big money, but Tom has an uncanny ability to get the story and then figure out who cares about the story and what it could do for them.”

At St. Norbert, fundraising will be key. Kunkel aims to elevate the Catholic liberal arts school from a college almost unknown outside the Wisconsin area to a nationally recognized institution, with hopes of expanding its faculty and enrollment, he said.

As a Catholic, Kunkel said he looks forward to St. Norbert because of its unique philosophy that blends the liberal arts and religion.

“Students are encouraged to be very reflective and make inquiries into their own spirituality,” he said. “They approach education in a very holistic way. I’m excited about that.”

Kunkel’s appointment will start in July. Provost Nariman Farvardin said he will announce plans for his replacement next week.

slivnickdbk@gmail.com