Randall Smith
Professor
Endowed Chairs, Journalism Professions, Missouri Business Alert
Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism310-H Reynolds Journalism Institute
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia, MO 65211-1200
RANDALL SMITH, BJ ’74, is the first Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism. He joined the Missouri School of Journalism in August 2009. His 30-year career at The Kansas City Star began in 1979, and he has worked on both the news and business sides. Smith started as a copy editor, rising to the positions of business editor and deputy managing editor, and most recently, to director of strategic development.
Smith is a former president of the Society of American Business Writers and Editors and a recipient of the organization’s Distinguished Achievement Award. He played a major role in conceiving the idea and raising the money for the School’s SABEW endowed chair.
He is the vice chair and first non-family member of the board of the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships. The author of the book “A Kenyan Journey,” Smith has lectured to classes in China, Africa and the U.S. Throughout his career Smith has been involved with helping promote young minority journalists, and he played a key role in getting Knight Ridder to adopt the Rotating Internship Program, which placed more than 250 journalists into newspapers during a 20-year run.
As an editor Smith has worked with award-winning newsroom teams that have earned the profession’s top awards and honors. One won a Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for coverage of the Kansas City Hyatt skywalks disaster in July 1981. Other staff recognitions include a Sigma Delta Chi award, an Eppy award, a Philip Meyer Award, 12 Missouri Press Association Gold Cups and a Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award.
Smith received the Mizzou Alumni Association’s highest recognition, the Faculty-Alumni Award, in 2005. In 2016, Smith won the President’s Cross-Culture Engagement Award and the Provost’s Award for Leadership in International Education.
Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism
The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation awarded the Missouri School of Journalism a $2 million grant to establish the Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism in 2008. The chair is the second in business journalism at the School, joining the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Chair, established in 2000. The Reynolds Chair works with other Missouri faculty to increase undergraduate and master’s course offerings at the School. The chair also works with journalism professionals and Reynolds Business Journalism Chairs at other universities to offer advanced training in business and financial journalism for working journalists. Working with other faculty and staff of Missouri’s Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, the Reynolds Chair helps develop, test and write about new digital models of journalism and advertising.
Related Stories
Expand All Collapse All- 2024
- 2022
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2021
- Nov 30, 2021 $1 million gift will support scholarship at MU School of Law and fellowship at Missouri School of Journalism
- Jun 14, 2021 Kauffman Foundation awards sixth year of support to Missouri Business Alert
- May 12, 2021 Three Missouri School of Journalism students receive Donald W. Reynolds Scholarships in Business Journalism
- May 10, 2021 Rashi Shrivastava receives $6,500 Carol Loomis Scholarship for Business Reporting
- May 06, 2021 Junior Skylar Laird receives the $2,000 Jerry Heaster Scholarship in Business Journalism
- Jan 12, 2021 Missouri School of Journalism scholarship to honor media leader and innovator Pam Johnson, BJ ’69
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2020
- Nov 24, 2020 Journalism Professor David Herzog awarded the 2020 Provost's Award for Leadership in International Education
- Aug 26, 2020 Missouri Business Alert, School of Journalism announce $3 million gift
- Aug 05, 2020 Kauffman Foundation awards fifth year of support to Missouri Business Alert
- Jun 22, 2020 Missouri School of Journalism senior Kaitlyn Hoevelmann receives Donald W. Reynolds Scholarship in Business Journalism
- Jun 19, 2020 Missouri School of Journalism student Emmy Lucas receives $5,000 Carol Loomis Scholarship for Business Reporting
- Jun 18, 2020 Missouri School of Journalism senior Kelly Kullman receives $2,000 Jerry Heaster Scholarship for Business Reporting
- Apr 28, 2020 Journalism and business students gain hands-on experience participating in the 11th annual Entrepreneurship and Media of the Future Symposium competition
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2019
- Oct 25, 2019 Ethan Brown Receives $2,000 Jerry Heaster Scholarship for Business Reporting
- Oct 14, 2019 Master’s Student Ralph Chapoco receives $5,000 Carol Loomis Scholarship for Business Reporting
- Oct 01, 2019 Journalism senior Clare Roth receives Donald W. Reynolds Scholarship in Business Journalism
- Jun 03, 2019 Senior, Recent J-School Graduate to Receive Hands-On Brand Journalism Experience via Kauffman Fellowships
- May 10, 2019 Missouri Business Alert Expands to Kansas City, Adds More Hands-On Learning for Journalism Students
- May 09, 2019 Grad Students Tasked with Solving Associated Press Challenge Win Business-Journalism Competition
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2018
- Jul 26, 2018 Business Journalism Chair Honored for His Commitment to International Education
- May 15, 2018 Kauffman Foundation Grant Will Provide More Business Journalism Learning Opportunities for University of Missouri Students
- Apr 27, 2018 Student Teams at CDiG Competition Offer Real-World Industry Solutions
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2017
- Dec 22, 2017 Senior Kyle LaHucik Receives $5,000 Donald W. Reynolds Scholarship in Business Journalism
- Dec 21, 2017 Master's Student Carolina Vargas Receives $5,000 Carol Loomis Scholarship for Business Reporting
- Dec 20, 2017 Lily O'Neill Receives the $2,000 Heaster Scholarship in Business Journalism
- Apr 27, 2017 Enterprising Journalist from India Celebrated as Inaugural Fellow
- Mar 27, 2017 Professional Journalists Pair Up Students in Missouri and India for Reporting Project
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2016
- Dec 23, 2016 Alexander Schiffer Receives $2,000 Jerry Heaster Scholarship in Business Journalism
- Dec 14, 2016 DC Philanthropists Fund Missouri Journalism Fellowship for Indian Reporter
- Nov 29, 2016 Professor Randy Smith Honored for Outstanding Achievements
- Nov 28, 2016 Winners of the Carol Loomis Scholarship for Business Reporting Named
- Nov 28, 2016 Senior Receives the $5,000 Donald W. Reynolds Scholarship in Business Journalism
- Nov 02, 2016 Alumna to Share Inner Workings of Investigative Journalists
- Sep 22, 2016 Alfred Friendly Fellowship Program Formalizes Partnership with School
- Aug 30, 2016 Missouri Students Document Life in South Africa
- Jul 12, 2016 Missouri Business Alert Celebrates 4th Anniversary with New Offerings, Readership Increases
- Jul 06, 2016 Missouri Business Alert Launches a Free E-newsletter for Entrepreneurs
- May 20, 2016 Foreign Press Association Awards Aleksandr Gorbachev $10,000 First Place Scholarship
- Apr 15, 2016 Randy Smith Receives President's Award for Cross-Cultural Engagement
- Apr 07, 2016 Asian-American Journalists Association Students Interview Lead Investigative Editor
- Mar 21, 2016 Fellowship Targets New Countries, Forms New Partnerships
- Mar 18, 2016 Senior Jacob Steimer Wins National Business Journalism Award
- Jan 14, 2016 Kauffman Foundation Awards $100,000 Grant to Missouri Business Alert
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2015
- Oct 12, 2015 Master's Student Receives $4,000 Scholarship for Business Reporting
- Oct 07, 2015 Kara Tabor Wins $5,000 Donald W. Reynolds Business Journalism Scholarship
- Aug 06, 2015 Missouri Business Alert Celebrates Its 3rd Anniversary
- Jul 01, 2015 Warren Buffett Inspires, Impresses Missouri Business Journalism Students
- Jun 29, 2015 8 Students Document Living History During South Africa Reporting Trip
- Apr 23, 2015 SoundStir Takes Top Honors in 2015 RJI Student Competition
- 2014
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2013
- Nov 08, 2013 New York Times Media Reporter Brian Stelter Discusses Digital Identity with Missouri Journalism Students
- Oct 09, 2013 Missouri School of Journalism Students Visit Leading Washington, D.C., Newsrooms
- Sep 06, 2013 3 Bloomberg News Professionals to Help Missouri Journalism Students Understand Business Journalism
- Sep 05, 2013 Missouri Journalism Senior Allison Prang Awarded the $10,000 Donald W. Reynolds Scholarship in Business Journalism
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2012
- Sep 17, 2012 Byron Calame, BJ '61, Named Visiting Business Journalism Professor for the Fall Semester
- May 17, 2012 Missouri School of Journalism to Test New Digital Newsroom This Summer
- May 14, 2012 Madeline O'Leary Is Awarded the $10,000 Donald W. Reynolds Scholarship in Business Journalism
- Feb 03, 2012 A $10,000 Scholarship and 10 Summer Internships in Business Journalism Available to Missouri Students
- 2010
- 2009
- 2005
Updated: November 17, 2023