Amy Simons wins first-ever AEJMC Award for Excellence in Teaching
Professor Amy Simons, the course coordinator for J1400, spoke to doctoral student Pranaav Jadhav’s class on Feb. 10, 2026, in the Futures Lab. For their community issues assignment, the class is divided into three teams, and she met with each one to offer guidance on their stories.
By Austin Fitzgerald
Photos by Nate Brown
COLUMBIA, Mo. (Feb. 11, 2026) — The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) has honored Professor Amy Simons with the inaugural AEJMC Award for Excellence in Teaching for her work as an instructor, course coordinator and curriculum designer at the Missouri School of Journalism.
The award, which “honors a commitment to teaching that has been transformative and impactful for students, programs, and/or institutions,” comes with a $1,000 prize. Judges credited Simons’ “strong passion for teaching and the J-School curriculum” as well as her “scholastic media mentorship” for their decision.
“Amy is known for setting high standards for students while being passionately committed to their professional and personal growth,” said David Kurpius, dean of the School of Journalism. “She is also widely recognized for her innovative and strategic design of learning experiences. This recognition adds to a growing body of national acclaim for her work.”
For Simons, who teaches a variety of journalism classes and serves as course coordinator for the Applied Projects for Journalism and Strategic Communication course, the award is an affirmation that the work of teachers is noticed and appreciated by the wider industry.
“The work that we do every day — the time and the attention that we pour into our students at every level — is paying off,” Simons said. “To have that work recognized by colleagues not only here at Mizzou but in the journalism and mass communication community is truly an honor.”
Simons has won a major award for her teaching, mentorship or administrative service nearly every year since 2017. Most recently, she took home a Kemper Fellowship — Mizzou’s highest teaching honor — in 2025, the inaugural Provost’s Award for Faculty Mentoring in 2024 and AEJMC’s Baskett Mosse Award for Faculty Development in 2023.
But as the accolades keep coming, Simons is not resting on her laurels. While continuing to inspire students in the classroom and drive innovation in the curriculum, she has also worked increasingly with doctoral students to help them learn to teach.
“It’s one more kind of teaching that expands the impact and the ripple effect of what I’ve developed and brought into the classroom,” Simons said. “To have the opportunity to help these students shape their own best practices in teaching and build their own identities as instructors in the classroom has been really special.”
Another passion is teaching the Journalism for Non-Majors course, especially when students approach her after the class to ask about pursuing a major in journalism.
Regardless of the specific course or student level, however, her impact is clear. Charles Minshew, MA ’13, senior editor for data journalism at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has felt that impact firsthand.
“You can draw a straight line from lessons I’ve learned from Amy to my success in the journalism industry,” Minshew wrote in a letter recommending Simons for the award. “Amy’s encouragement … and her mentorship for the past 11 years have always guided and supported me. In short, she has made me a better journalist, a stronger teacher.”
Nor has Simons’ enthusiastic mentorship been confined to students alone. As a reporter, producer and editor for 16 years before transitioning into the academic world — where she is now in her 16th year at Mizzou — her deep experience on both sides of the industry allows her to provide nuanced guidance to faculty, staff and students alike.
Joanie Straub, director of planning and communications at the School of Journalism, said Simons is decidedly generous with her knowledge.
“Amy consistently shares her best practices with colleagues, modeling effective approaches that others adopt in their own teaching,” Straub said. “In this way, Amy not only transforms the experiences of her own students but also elevates the practice of teaching across our institution.”
Simons will officially accept the award during AEJMC’s 2026 conference this summer in New Orleans.
Updated: February 11, 2026