JAMES STERLING has more than 30 years of professional experience in the newspaper industry. He is a former member of the Board of Curators, the governing body of the University of Missouri, and a past president of the Missouri Press Association. In 1999 Sterling received the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, the highest honor bestowed by the Missouri School of Journalism.

Missouri Chair in Community Newspaper Management
The Chair in Community Newspaper Management is a joint effort by the Missouri School of Journalism and the Missouri Press Association to strengthen and promote the teaching of community newspapering. More than 100 community publishers, alumni of the school, and friends of MPA and the school made contributions to see this chair become a reality. Since the founding of the school in 1908 by Walter Williams and other colleagues at the Missouri Press Association, the school and the association have thrived together, combining resources and expertise to promote excellence in the profession.