Paul S. Voakes in the new dean
Indiana prof is researcher, author, former news editor

Paul S. Voakes

Paul S. Voakes, associate professor at the Indiana University School of Journalism, has been appointed dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder, pending approval by the CU Board of Regents.

The appointment, effective July 1, was announced in late April by CU-Boulder Provost Phil DiStefano.

"I am confident that Paul Voakes will provide the necessary leadership to navigate the tough fiscal times ahead and move the School to the next level of excellence in its academic programs," DiStefano said.

Voakes said he was honored by the opportunity to become dean of the School, which he characterized as having an excellent journalism and mass communication program.

"I believe it is underrated in our national community," he said. "But the real measure of a school's excellence is its ability year after year to provide an environment conducive to learning.

"That takes a dedicated faculty, first-rate facilities and the financial wherewithal to support the care and feeding of both. Those factors seem to be in place, or imminent, at Colorado."

Prior to his appointment to the Indiana University faculty in 1994, Voakes held academic positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

His professional experience, 1975 to 1990, includes political reporting and editing. He has served as editorial writer and op-ed columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, editorial page editor for the Peninsula Times Tribune and business editor and general assignment reporter for the Palo Alto Times.

In the summer of 2000, he returned to the newsroom as a political reporter and editor at The (Portland) Oregonian through an Institute for Journalism Excellence fellowship from the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Voakes' research interests include technological change in journalism education, law and ethics in the newsroom, and First Amendment rights. He is the author of numerous journals, books and articles, and the recipient of several prestigious research grants, honors and teaching awards.

He is a co-author of "The American Journalist in the 21st Century," with David Weaver and Cleveland Wilhoit, which is a completely rewritten edition of "The American Journalist," widely regarded as the definitive study of the profession. The book is due out in 2004.

Journalism and mass communication courses he has taught include reporting, editing, communications law, math and statistics for journalists, media as social institutions and quantitative research methods.

Voakes received his doctorate in mass communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994, a master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974 and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Davis in 1972.

Voakes replaces Interim Dean Stewart Hoover, who has served in the position since February 2002 while a national search was conducted. Confirmation of his appointment is scheduled for the meeting of the Board of Regents in late May. His annual salary is proposed at $141,000.

Voakes will be moving to Boulder in July with his wife, Barbara, an oncology nurse, and their dog and cat. They have three sons, ages 23, 21 and 18 – the younger two are students at Indiana University. Voakes is an avid bicyclist and a "struggling student" of the saxophone.