Journalism Associate Professor Amy Simons awarded a Reynolds Faculty Fellowship
Annual endowment is used for salary supplement and support for teaching and research.
Columbia, Mo. (Nov. 13, 2020) — Missouri School of Journalism Associate Professor Amy Simons has been selected to receive a Reynolds Faculty Fellowship award. These unique fellowships provide support for scholarship and research, in addition to salary enhancements, in recognition of high-quality work.
Simons has been selected as the John A. Walsh Faculty Fellow. The fellowship is a gift of John and Ellen Walsh. John Walsh, MA ’69, is considered the architect of ESPN and one of the most transformative figures in sports journalism. He retired as executive vice president of ESPN in 2015.
“The generous support of our alumni, friends and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation allows us to strengthen what has always been a hallmark of the Missouri School of Journalism – the caliber of our faculty,” said David Kurpius, dean of the School. “This investment ensures our continuing leadership in journalism education and the highest quality experience for our students in our classrooms, newsrooms and agencies.”
Simons teaches news literacy, multimedia journalism and advanced social media strategies. Since joining the faculty in August 2010, she has developed an interest in international journalism, training professionals on campus and abroad. Simons has traveled across China and the European Union, teaching Web-first workflows, mobile journalism techniques and how to use social media as a reporting tool and a means to disseminate journalistic content. She also hosts and produces Views of the News, a weekly media criticism program that airs on KBIA-FM and KBIA.org.
The John A. Walsh Faculty Fellow is part of a larger program established in 2014 by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to help recruit and retain talented faculty at the Missouri School of Journalism, the alma mater of the foundation’s namesake. The School will receive $10 million from the Foundation in 2021; however, the Foundation is allowing up to 50 third-party donors to create the individual fellowships immediately with gifts of $200,000. Those matching donors receive the right to name the fellowships. Once the Foundation’s gift is received in 2021, the level of each endowed fellowship will increase to $400,000.
Donald W. Reynolds was a 1927 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and spent his life building the Donrey Media Group, ultimately owning more than 100 enterprises in the newspaper, radio, television, cable television and outdoor advertising industries.
The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation gift for the faculty fellowships follows previous gifts from the Foundation to build the Reynolds Alumni Center and to build and fund in perpetuity the Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) at the Missouri School of Journalism.
This faculty fellowship brings the total to eight that the School has been able to award. The previous named faculty are: Jamie Flink, associate professor, as the Molly Phelps Bean Faculty Fellow; Mark Horvit, associate professor, as the Donald W. Reynolds Faculty Fellow; Jeimmie Nevalga, associate professor, as the Mark and Kiki Hoffman Faculty Fellow; Shelly Rodgers, professor, as the second Molly Phelps Bean Faculty Fellow; Jennifer Rowe, professor, as the Carol Loomis Faculty Fellow; Ryan Thomas, associate professor, as the Wallace Turner Faculty Fellow; and Yong Volz, associate professor, was selected as the Roger Gafke Faculty Fellow.
Updated: November 13, 2020