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Eddith Dashiell has been named the next director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University, taking over for Dr. Robert Stewart, who is retiring in May after 10 years leading the school. Dashiell will be both the first woman and the first African American to hold the position.
“I see my role as the next director as just an extension of what I am already doing as associate director: providing my colleagues and our students with the support they need to be successful,” Dashiell said. “Bob Stewart and I have been colleagues in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism for more than 20 years, first as faculty members and later as part of the School’s administration, so I’m grateful for his support and leadership as director for the past 10 years. I’m going to miss him.”
Dashiell joined OHIO in 1992 and currently serves as associate director of undergraduate programs. She has previously held positions as the college’s associate dean for graduate programs and the University’s assistant provost for multicultural graduate affairs in the office of graduate studies.
“Dr. Dashiell has distinguished herself as someone who has been a tireless advocate for students. Her leadership experiences in the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism, the Scripps College of Communication, and the broader university well position her to be an outstanding director for the school,” said Scripps College of Communication Dean Scott Titsworth. “I’m excited to have Eddith rejoin the academic leadership team of the college and help students and faculty in the J-School continue expanding upon the strong successes and history of that school.”
She received the University Professor Award in 1998, the L.J. Hortin Faculty Mentor Award from the Scripps College of Communication in 2014, the Athens County Outstanding Woman of the Year award in 2005 and was the 2019 recipient of the Ohio University Chapman Clapp Outstanding Advisor Award by the University Academic Advisors Council.
“I am honored to know that my colleagues in the School of Journalism had such confidence in me to recommend that I be their next director,” Dashiell added. “I promise to continue to work closely with them as I shift roles from associate director to director over the summer. I still will need the faculty’s guidance and wisdom to continue to meet the School of Journalism’s mission of providing our students with a quality journalism education that emphasizes professional excellence, critical thinking, and social responsibility in order to maintain and enhance our democratic society and the free exchange of ideas.”
Dashiell had an extensive career as a journalist prior to teaching, working as an assistant weekend producer, news director, freelance reporter, news editor and public relations director, among other positions. She taught journalism at Middle Tennessee State University and Indiana University before joining the faculty in the E.W. Scripps School.
Her teaching and interest areas include communication law, diversity and broadcast journalism.