Professional: I am a (full) professor of journalism & media at Indiana University Southeast. My specialty is Visual Communication. I also teach Communication/Media Law; Journalism/Media Ethics; Introduction to Mass Communication; Principles of Creative Advertising; Photojournalism Reporting; Photojournalism Editing; Media Careers; Wordsmithing; and Writing, Reporting and Editing I. I have taught Social Media Strategy and a course on “Journalism in the Movies.” I advised the student newspaper, The Horizon, from fall 1999 to fall 2012. I am part of the Journalism & Media program and director of student media, which includes IUS Horizon Radio and IUS Horizon Video, at IU Southeast. I have been teaching here since 1999.
I have published two books: Visual Communication, third edition, and Media Ethics: A Primer.
I have had many jobs, including magazine editor, graphic designer, typesetter, computer consultant, freelance writer and newspaper columnist. I have also waited tables, bagged groceries, input data, delivered newspapers, sold beer and hamburgers at an amusement park, worked in a grocery-store deli and worked in a small, independent book store.
Personal: My wife, April, and I have been married since 1997. We have two children, Ben and Carly. We live in Jeffersonville, Indiana. April is an award-winning magazine designer. We met when I was a doctoral student at the University of South Carolina, where April earned her journalism degree. I have a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas. The Eyes of Texas are upon me.
I was born in Rochester, New York — Gates, New York, to be exact. Sports Illustrated once called Gates a “well-scrubbed suburb” of Rochester. That’s more or less correct. I remember lots of snow — lots and lots of snow. I went to Walt Disney Elementary School and Gates-Chili Junior High School. I moved to Laredo, Texas, in eighth grade, then to Centerville, Ohio. After that, I went back to Texas for college, then South Carolina, and finally Southern Indiana. By the way, Jeffersonville, Indiana, is the “sunny side” of Louisville, Kentucky.
My older sister, Tere, is an actuary/human resources expert in Allen, Texas. She is married to Glenn, and they have two children, Aaron and Renee. I have two younger brothers, Ken and Brian. Ken does computer networking support and lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Stacey, and their three children. Brian is an accountant in Houston, where he lives with his wife, Mandy. My father, Ron, died in 2024. My mother, Anne Marie, passed in 2020.
I am very involved at First Baptist Church of Jeffersonville, where I have served as deacon, Sunday School teacher, Youth leader, Tween Time teacher and more.
That should do it for both groups. Now, go run and play.