Cronkite alumni form new National Board of Advisors

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is forming a national advisory board to provide leadership and support for the advancement of the school.

The Cronkite National Board of Advisors is made up of nine Cronkite School alumni representing seven decades of journalism education at Arizona State University.

The board will advise the dean and spearhead an annual event that celebrates the school’s namesake, Walter Cronkite, and addresses critical issues facing journalism and mass communications. The board also will participate in the selection of Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame inductees and help raise funds for the school.

Craig A. Newman, a partner with Richards, Kibbe & Orbe LLP in New York and a member of the Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame, will serve as founding chair of the board. Newman is a 1979 graduate of the school. Other board members are:

• Don Dotts (’57), emeritus executive director, ASU Alumni Association;
• Derrick Hall (’91), president, Arizona Diamondbacks;
• Athia Hardt (’70), owner, Hardt and Associates, a Phoenix public relations firm;
• Susan Karis (’80), executive vice president, Clear Channel Radio;
• Linda Kauss (’68), deputy managing editor, USA Today;
• Mindy Lee (’03, ’10), associate editor, ASU Media Relations and Public Information;
• Hannah Mullins (’06), reporter, KPNX-TV, Phoenix;
• Adelaida Severson (’95), president and CEO, Bushtex Inc., a satellite communications company based in Gilbert, Ariz. 

“Our alumni represent some of the leading thinkers in journalism and public relations in the nation,” said Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan. “Our new board will help energize our thousands of terrific alumni around the world to benefit our students and school.”

Newman said the board is eager to get started.

“Walter Cronkite was known as the most trusted man in America, and the school that bears his name is now being trusted by its students to help prepare them for a rapidly evolving profession,” Newman said. “The nine members of this advisory board believe in the importance of maintaining the traditional values that are so critical to high quality journalism while making available new resources and opportunities for the Cronkite School to ensure that it continues leading the way in the future of journalism education.”

The board will hold its first meeting April 30 in the Cronkite School’s state-of-the-art journalism complex on ASU’s downtown Phoenix campus.