Lee Thornton assumed the role of interim dean of the journalism school yesterday, becoming the first woman to lead the college.”It’s a historic first. There’s never been a woman dean of any kind, either interim or not,” Thornton said. “So I am the first woman to ever serve in the deanly capacity, and that’s an honor.”
Thornton, a broadcast journalism professor, is replacing eight-year veteran Thomas Kunkel, who ushered the school into the top national rankings and left his position as dean to become the president of St. Norbert College, a liberal arts school in eastern Wisconsin.
Thornton said she doesn’t plan on taking the school in new directions but wants to preserve the strength of the college for the next dean. She is chairing the committee searching for the permanent dean and is not applying for the position herself, she said.
Thornton added the college is working on developing a diversity policy and recently hired three new professors.
As a broadcast professor, Thornton pushed for the creation of UMTV programs Front & Center: Journalists on Journalism, Changing Media, and the interview program, A Moment With. During her work with UMTV, Thornton has helped bring the cable TV station to the forefront of collegiate-level news broadcasting programs and led students to win national awards.
Thornton is also known for her close mentorship of students and holds the Richard Eaton Chair in Broadcast Journalism, a million-dollar endowed teaching position.
Previously, she worked as a White House correspondent for CBS News, a radio show host for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, a CNN public affairs program producer for the show Both Sides With Jesse Jackson and a producer for Warner Bros. Domestic Television.
One of the projects Thornton will oversee is the building of the new journalism building, Knight Hall.
“That building is going to exist if not in late 2009, in early 2010,” she said. “There’s a small amount of money to be raised yet for it.”
Members of the journalism school praised the appointment.
“She is certainly both respected and beloved in the college,” said the journalism school’s assistant dean Steve Crane “They know her to be not only a scholar but a hard worker who gives a lot not only to the college but to her students.”
Crane noted the entire faculty was behind Thornton because of her dedication. Crane said he believed Thornton would treat the interim position as seriously as a permanent deanship.
“She is going to give it everything she has,” Crane said.
Either way, both people in the journalism school and in the administration said they were pleased with how Thornton stepped up to the plate when the college was in need.
“I am grateful to Dr. Thornton for accepting this responsibility during this critical transition period,” Provost Nariman Farvardin wrote in an e-mail. “I am confident that the College of Journalism will continue to move forward under Dr. Thornton’s capable leadership until a permanent dean is appointed.”
Reporter Roxana Hadadi contributed to this report.
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