Conrad Fink
Professor of Journalism
By Sallie Barker
 |
Conrad Fink |
Conrad C. Fink, veteran journalist and professor at UGA’s
Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, has
received this year’s Regents Award for Excellence
in Teaching.
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents annually
recognizes individual faculty members and academic programs
for strong commitment to teaching and service to students.
Fink is the faculty award winner chosen this year from research
universities in Georgia, subject to regents’ approval.
“Conrad Fink’s dedication to the education,
growth, ethics and professionalism of students is exemplary
of great teachers,” says Arnett C. Mace Jr., senior
vice president for academic affairs and provost. “His
commitment to excellence is highly valued and appreciated
by all who know and work with him. This recognition is a
small token of our appreciation and gratitude for his valued
contributions.”
Fink is the William S. Morris Chair of Newspaper Strategy
and Management and director of the James M. Cox Jr. Institute
for Newspaper Management Studies in the Grady College. He
teaches newspaper management, contemporary American newspapers,
opinion writing, public affairs reporting and ethics.
“Conrad Fink personifies teaching excellence,”
says Grady College Dean John Soloski. “He is a teacher,
author, mentor and adviser, but first and always, he is
a teacher.”
A former Associated Press war correspondent and news executive,
Fink recalls discovering he had to redefine adventure and
re-order his life when he stepped before his first class
as a teacher at the University of Georgia in 1982.
He says that early in his career as a foreign correspondent,
he thought life could deliver no greater adventure than
traveling through the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan or running
through the rice paddies of Vietnam. Later he became vice
president of the Associated Press in New York, and decided
that that was the greatest adventure of his 25 years in
journalism.
“Now, however, as I enter my 24th year at the Grady
College, I know that this—teaching—has been
the greatest adventure of all,” he says.
Fink says he has learned as much from his students as he
has taught, and has grown personally in new, unexpected
ways while helping generations of students learn and grow.
“They learn, I learn—and together we move at
least a bit toward the enlightenment that surely must be
the goal of creative minds,” he says.
Students report being motivated and inspired by Fink’s
passion for journalism and newspapers.
Greg Bluestein, editor-in-chief of The
Red & Black, UGA’s independent student-run
newspaper, says, “His door is always open to the students
and alumni who visit daily for journalistic tips, career
advice or fascinating conversation. ‘Fink, Inc.,’
he frequently jokes, ‘is always open for business.’
Time and again, his confidence and encouragement echo in
his students’ lives. We learn to agree with him, ‘There’s
no better way to make a living.’ ”
In addition to teaching, Fink serves as adviser to the Media
Management Club. He also has published nine journalism textbooks,
including Strategic Newspaper
Management and books on ethics, business news writing,
opinion writing and sports writing.
“Conrad recruits, teaches, mentors and inspires some
of UGA’s finest students,” says Kent Middleton,
journalism department head. “Although his courses
are known widely as rigorous and demanding, he consistently
receives the highest marks from students in their course
evaluations. He is the ‘newspaper guy’ who attracts
and motivates students with his intense professionalism
and leadership.”
•
Richard B. Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate
Teaching
•
2004 Josiah Meigs Award for Excellence in Teaching
•
Research Awards
