
UPDATE: A memorial service for Professor Johnson will be held on Sunday, June 23 at noon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
By Adrianne Flynn and Rafael Lorente
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Haynes Johnson — best-selling author, Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist, historian and eminent professor and Knight Chair at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism — died Friday, May 24, 2013. He was 81.
He entered Suburban Hospital three days ago for tests on his heart and died Friday morning of cardiac arrest, said his widow, Kathryn Oberly.
“Haynes Johnson was a beloved member of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism faculty for 15 years. Hundreds of of our students learned how to cover public affairs from one of the best journalists America has ever known,” said Merrill College Dean Lucy Dalglish. “It was equally obvious to anyone who looked through the window … that Haynes was in his element in the classroom. His entire face lit up when he was in the middle of a classroom discussion.”
Professor Johnson had just attended graduation ceremonies on Monday for the Merrill College.
Educating and mentoring young journalists “meant so much to him” that he rarely let a graduation go by without him, even when he wasn’t feeling well, Dalglish said.
“This man was a rock,” said University of Maryland President Wallace Loh. “He taught our students journalistic excellence, drawing freely on his integrity, insight and idealism. He helped anchor a new generation of journalists, and we will miss him.”
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Merrill Graduate Student Awarded $2500 Endicott Scholarship
Merrill College Graduate Student Josh Birch (Photo courtesy Bethany Swain)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Merrill Graduate student Josh Birch is one of two students selected by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to receive this year’s Betty Endicott scholarship.
Birch is the first graduate student (ever) to be given the scholarship ($2500.00 this year) – something that was made possible when the NATAS chapter voted to follow a recommendation by Capital News Service Broadcast Bureau Director Sue Kopen Katcef to let graduate students apply.
Katcef accepted the award for Birch this past weekend during the regional Emmy Award program in Baltimore.
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