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Catherine Luther named Director of College of Journalism Annie Tieu
Contributor
Catherine Luther was recently promoted to Director of School of Journalism. Alex Phillips • The Daily Beacon
Volume 132 Issue 15
Catherine Luther’s office is sparse. There are boxes piled high and her desk is a small one, more appropriate for a dorm than an office. At least, it is for now until she finishes moving into her new office as the director of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media. Luther has received several awards for excellence in administration, research and teaching, including the 2012 University of Tennessee Notable Woman Award, John Ben Snow Memorial Trust Fellowship Award, the Radio Television News Directors Foundation or Knight Foundation’s Educator in the Newsroom Fellowship Award and the International Radio and Television Society Faculty or Industry Award. The University of Tennessee College of Communication and Information has also awarded her the Bud Minkel International or Intercultural Award and the Outstanding Faculty Research award. She has been the author and co-author of numerous scholarly articles and papers, as well as a book, “Press Images, National Identity, and Foreign Policy: A Case Study of U.S. — Japan Relations from 19551995.” Additionally, she was awarded the Fulbright Research Grant to conduct research in Japan in 2007. Growing up in a military family, Luther has travelled the world since birth. As the daughter of a Japanese-American mother and Irish-German father, she was born in an army base in Japan but she considers Maryland, where she spent her high school years, her home state. As an undergraduate, Luther attended the University of Maryland where she double majored in East Asian Studies and Mass Communication. She has always been fascinated by politics and political relations since these were topics of conversation in her home. Her background is what inspired her career decisions. Luther shared what initially attracted her to journalism. “This notion of serving the public and informing the public about different events and stories and issues that they normally
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would not even think about or be exposed to motivated me,” Luther said. While holding this belief despite the world’s changing attitude about the media, she offered advice to others studying communications. “You really have to have a passion with regard to informing people and creating compelling messages and stories,” Luther said. “Never give up. When you get into this field you might have a bad experience … but you can move around and learn with each position.” Her hobbies are ones most people share: listening to music, going to movies and traveling. “And food,” she said, with a laugh. “I love food, different kinds of food.” Of course she loves to travel. Even in her spare time, she enjoys reading about other countries: their politics, culture and people. “Every location that I go to, I feel that it is making me more well-rounded, and I’m getting a deeper understanding of individuals,” Luther said. Even if she does not know the language, she enjoys interacting with others, reaching some level of communication and getting to know the authentic culture, away from the tourism. “I always try to go into places to get a sense of how people live everyday lives, instead of just the areas serving tourists,” Luther said. “It’s really those areas where you tend to have the really great food, too.” Deborah Douglas, who retired Aug. 31, has worked in the School of Journalism for 27 years and with Luther since 2003. “We’ve always had a good work relationship,” Douglas said. And if she was not retiring soon, she said, “I wouldn’t mind working with her as the new director of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media.” Luther received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with a major in mass communication and a minor in political psychology. She has been with UT since 1998. It was the first academic position she started, despite offers from other institutions. Her mentor suggested Tennessee and she applied for the position because she had never lived in the South. See LUTHER on Page 2
Thursday, September 8, 2016