San Francisco-Area Alumni to Welcome School’s New Dean at Aug. 4 Reception
The Event Will Be Held at MSLGroup; Brief Program Begins at 7:15 p.m.
Columbia, Mo. (July 21, 2015) — San Francisco-area alumni will welcome David Kurpius, the new dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, at a reception from 6:30-8:30 p.m., on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at the MSLGroup, 100 California St., Suite 900. A brief program will begin at 7:15 p.m.
Dress is business casual. Registration can be made online through the Mizzou Alumni Association‘s website and is requested by Friday, July 31. San Francisco-area alumni helping to plan the event are Sally French, BJ ’13, social media editor, MarketWatch; Sarah Frueh, BJ ’12, account supervisor, MSLGroup; and Carson Reese, BS BA ’11, financial operations analyst, Zendesk.
Kurpius’s first day at the Missouri School of Journalism was July 1, having most recently served as a professor and administrator at Louisiana State University for almost 20 years. Most recently, he served as associate vice chancellor for enrollment management, managing 89 staff members and a $5.6 million operating budget. He also oversaw almost $305 million in state and federal financial aid and scholarships.
Kurpius has taught advanced newsgathering classes, public affairs reporting and courses on minorities in journalism. He also served as the director of the Office of Student Media, which is home to LSU’s five student-produced media outlets. Kurpius has published studies in more than 20 peer-reviewed journals and books on subjects ranging from civic journalism to local television news. His research focuses on the intersection of journalism education, media and democracy. Kurpius received a bachelor’s degree in telecommunication from Indiana University in 1986 and a master’s in 1995 and a doctorate in 1997 in mass communication from the University of Wisconsin.
Hosting the event are Pat Patton, MA ’71, and Brad Whitworth, BJ ’75. Patton has more than 30 years experience in television news, production and programming having served as a news executive producer, news director, station executive producer and program director. He is currently a television and media consultant having retired in January 2015 from KRON-TV where in his 14 years there he served as program and community affairs director, vice president of programming for Young Broadcasting and vice president and station manager for KRON-TV. Patton currently serves on the board of the Northern Chapter of the National Television Academy and has served as chairman/CEO of the National Association of Television Program Executives, International.
Whitworth is a senior communication and marketing manager at Cisco in San Jose. He joined the networking company in 2007 and today leads integrated communication for the team that builds partner ecosystems in new markets. Before Cisco, Whitworth led communication programs at HP, PeopleSoft and AAA. He earned undergraduate degrees in both journalism and speech at the University of Missouri, BJ/BA ’75, and an MBA at Santa Clara University. Whitworth is past chairman and a fellow of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and is one of the authors of The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication.
Updated: September 10, 2020