Journalism Scholar Named Top Professor of the Year

Posted on Nov. 18, 2010

Chris Roush — regarded as “the expert in business journalism” in the U.S. and beyond — of UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication has been named the 2010 N.C. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Roush was selected from more than 300 top professors in the United States.

Roush is the Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Scholar in business journalism and the founding director of the Carolina Business News Initiative. Last year, he was honored with the Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Teacher of the Year Award.

Roush received his bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from Auburn University and his master’s in mass communication from the University of Florida. He is the author of two books about business journalism — Show Me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication and Profits and Losses: Business Journalism and its Role in Society. He is the co-author of The Financial Writer’s Stylebook: 1,100 Business Terms Defined and Rated.

Roush blogs about business journalism at www.talkingbiznews.com, which won a Society of American Business Editors and Writers “Best in Business” Award in March. He also has created a website on the history of business journalism at www.bizjournalismhistory.org and a website for college students interested in business journalism at www.collegebizjournalism.org.

Roush has led business journalism training sessions for media organizations, including The Associated Press, Reuters, The Motley Fool, Media General newspapers, The Orlando Sentinel, The Mobile Register, the South Carolina Press Association, the International Center for Journalists and newspapers throughout North Carolina.

In the summer of 2007, Roush conducted a three-week business journalism module at the Durban University of Technology in Durban, South Africa, after receiving a grant from the Fulbright Senior Specialists program administered through the U.S. Department of State.

CASE and the Carnegie Foundation have been partners in offering the U.S. Professors of the Year awards program since 1981. This year, there are 38 state winners.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie “to do all things necessary to encourage, uphold and dignify the profession of teaching.” The foundation is the only advanced-study center for teachers in the world and the third-oldest foundation in the nation. Its nonprofit research activities are conducted by a small group of distinguished scholars.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the largest international association of education institutions, serving nearly 3,400 universities, colleges, schools, and related organizations in 59 countries. CASE is the leading resource for professional development, information and standards in the fields of educational fundraising, communications, marketing and alumni relations.

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