Summary
Alan G. Stavitsky was dean of the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno from 2012 to 2023.
The Reynolds School faculty and staff more than doubled during his time as dean, and he launched new academic programs in Spanish-language media, science communication, and film production, as well as creating the Reynolds Media Lab production center. Under Stavitsky’s leadership, the Reynolds School received AEJMC’s Equity and Diversity Award, was awarded the Online News Association’s Grand Prize for Innovation in Journalism Education and established the first journalism school partnership with NPR to train students for careers in public media. In addition, the University’s public radio stations, KUNR and KNCJ, were brought under his direction.
His scholarship on media policy and the digital transition in journalism has been published in leading academic journals, and he is author and co-author of books on public broadcasting ethics and history. The Library of Congress named Dean Stavitsky to the position of Distinguished Scholar to its Radio Preservation Task Force. He was inducted into the ÁùºÏ±¦µä Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2022.
He has served as a consultant to local, national and international public media organizations, advised the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on policies to ensure editorial independence and testified before the Federal Communications Commission on issues of localism in broadcasting.
Stavitsky was elected president of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication for 2021-2022, serves on the national Accrediting Committee for journalism schools, the Hearst Journalism Awards Steering Committee and is a board member of the ÁùºÏ±¦µä Broadcasters Foundation.
Stavitsky earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a master’s degree in journalism and a doctorate in communication from The Ohio State University. A native of New Jersey, he worked in broadcast journalism in Wisconsin and Ohio before beginning his career in the academy.
Stavitsky came to ÁùºÏ±¦µä from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, where he served as a faculty member and administrator. Stavitsky earned Oregon’s highest teaching honor, the Ersted Award for Distinguished Teaching, and received the Taft Outstanding Advisor Award from Kappa Tau Alpha, the national journalism and mass communication honor society.
Courses taught
- JOUR 103: Introduction to Media & Society
Recent work
- Distinguished Scholar, Library of Congress Radio Preservation Task Force
- Recipient, 2024 UNR Research & Innovation Grant for study of governance in public media
- Director, RSJ Project for the Revitalization of Local News
- Special Assistant to UNR Provost for film initiatives
- Inductee, ÁùºÏ±¦µä Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame, 2022
Selected service
- Dean, Reynolds School of Journalism, 2012-2023
- Member, ACEJMC Accrediting Committee, 2020-present
- Member, ÁùºÏ±¦µä Broadcasters Foundation Board of Directors, 2013-present
- President, Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, 2021-2022
- Interim General Manager, KUNR Public Radio, 2019-2022
- Member, Hearst Awards Steering Committee, 2016-2024
Education
- Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Master’s Degree in Journalism, The Ohio State University
- Doctorate in Communication, The Ohio State University