Cronkite School names new endowment board president

David J. Bodney, partner at Phoenix law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP, is the new president of the Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Bodney, a member of the Cronkite Endowment Board executive committee, is succeeding Republic Media chief operating officer John Misner, who successfully served two consecutive two-year terms as president. The board consists of top local media leaders who advise the school and plan the annual Cronkite Luncheon, the largest gathering of media professionals in the Valley, at which the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism is presented to a national media figure.

“It’s a tremendous privilege to help the Cronkite School achieve new heights with its already distinguished record of achievement,” Bodney said. “My predecessor, John Misner, provided exemplary leadership as the board’s past president.”

With more than 30 years of legal experience, Bodney practices media and constitutional law at Steptoe. His practice covers a wide range of constitutional law issues, including prosecuting to ensure open government and protecting reporters from government and third-party subpoenas, as well as advising on advertising, commercial speech and intellectual property law issues. He also has briefed several high-profile cases in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bodney teaches as an adjunct faculty member at both the Cronkite School and ASU’s Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. He is the 2013 recipient of the Arizona Anti-Defamation League’s Torch of Liberty Award, an honor that recognizes individuals who exemplify the principles of diversity, civil harmony, social justice and respect for human dignity.

“David Bodney’s dedication to the Cronkite School through the years has been phenomenal,” said Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan. “I am thrilled to work with him as president of the most influential and hardest working board in journalism education.”

Established in 1983, the Cronkite Endowment Board provides important counsel and advice to the dean on a variety of issues concerning the school. Board members also offer internships and mentor many students.

With more than 50 members, the board consists of leading newspaper editors and publishers, radio station general managers, magazine editors and publishers, public relations executives and other communications industry leaders from around the Valley.