The National Association of Black Journalists has named a Philip Merrill College of Journalism professor and an alumna as its Journalist of the Year and its Emerging Journalist of the Year, respectively.

The 3,300-member association last week selected Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts as its Journalist of the Year for his work in 2007. The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist is a visiting professor at the College.

NABJ also named the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune’s Sarah Hoye as its Emerging Journalist of the Year. Hoye earned her master of journalism degree in 2003 from the College.

The Special Honors are among the most-coveted annual awards given by NABJ. The awards will be formally presented July 26 at the NABJ Salute to Excellence Gala that will be part of the Unity: Journalists of Color convention in Chicago.

Journalist of the Year is given to a black journalist who has distinguished himself or herself during the year with work that was extraordinary in depth, scope or significance to people in the African diaspora. Pitts was recognized as a widely respected columnist whose strength and background show through his columns, which “speak to those silenced by poverty, violence and discrimination,” in the words of NABJ President Barbara Ciara.

The Emerging Journalist of the Year recognizes a black journalist with fewer than five years of experience whose work displays a commitment to NABJ’s goal of outstanding achievement by black journalists and to providing balanced coverage of the black community and society at large.

Hoye, who had already held jobs at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel before moving to Tampa, was honored for her exceptional work and for her abilities in multimedia reporting, which have made a great impact on her newsroom and on NABJ.

The association said that at a time when diversity in newsrooms is being shunted aside for the bottom line, the awards are not only important for the individual winners but also to recognize their voices and craft in a dwindling newsroom.

Founded in 1975, NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation. It is headquartered at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Note to faculty from Dean Tom Kunkel:

Friends,

Our associate dean, Don Heider, has been named the founding dean of a new School of Communication at Loyola University of Chicago.

As dean, Don will be charged with pulling together what are now disparate departments (journalism, communication, public relations and advertising) into a cohesive, stand-alone school. He will report to Loyola’s provost. The new school will be housed in a spectacular new facility, now under construction, in downtown Chicago near Water Tower Place.

It’s a wonderful opportunity for Don, who in two years has done much to help keep our school moving forward and has made many connections to related disciplines around campus. As much as we will miss him, it’s another feather in the cap of a school that is fast becoming known as a cradle of deans.

Loyola’s announcement can be found at: http://luc.edu/president/letters/soc_dean.html.

I will be back in touch with you soon to discuss the steps we’ll take to bridge this opening. For now, please join me in congratulating Don and his family on this great opportunity.

Tom