COLLEGE PARK – To kick off celebration of its 50th anniversary, the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism will unveil the Merrill College Hall of Fame on April 7. The inaugural class will include five distinguished alums plus one celebrated faculty member, Dean Lucy Dalglish announced Tuesday.
The college will induct alums Emilio Garcia-Ruiz (B.S. ’84), Charles Green (B.S. ’74), Maria Douglas Reeve (M.J. ’92), Bey-Ling Sha (M.J. ’95, Ph.D. '99) and Sandra Dawson Long Weaver (B.S. ’74). The first faculty honoree will be the late Merrill College Dean Emeritus Reese Cleghorn.
“Merrill College’s graduates have distinguished themselves in news reporting, foreign correspondence, broadcasting, newsroom leadership, marketing, communications, advertising and a host of entrepreneurial endeavors,” Dalglish said. “We are grateful to Ralph Crosby for a gift that will allow us to honor outstanding alums for decades to come.”
The inaugural class will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame during an event at John S. and James L. Knight Hall on April 7 at 6 p.m. Hors d'oeuvres will be served and registration is required.
The class was selected by the college's new Hall of Fame committee, and will join the 12 Merrill graduates who were previously honored as Distinguished Alumni by the UMD Alumni Association.
The inductees will be immortalized with plaques in the atrium at Knight Hall. The project was made possible with the support of alumnus Ralph Crosby ’56.
About the Inductees
Emilio Garcia-Ruiz (B.S. ’84) has been editor in chief of the San Francisco Chronicle since September 2020. He previously served as the managing editor in charge of digital at The Washington Post, overseeing the newsroom’s development, implementation and execution of digital strategy. Prior to that, Garcia-Ruiz was the editor for strategic projects, as well as The Post’s Local, Sunday and Sports editors. In 2000, he edited the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation by the St. Paul Pioneer Press that uncovered academic fraud in the University of Minnesota men's basketball program.
Charles Green (B.S. ’74) served as editor of the National Journal from 1999 to 2013, leading the staff to the National Magazine Award, the National Headliner Award, the Gerald R. Ford Award and many more honors. He previously spent 17 years at Knight-Ridder, covering Congress, the White House, politics and social issues as a reporter before becoming a news editor. While at Knight-Ridder, Green was a part of teams that won a 1983 Pulitzer Prize and a 1987 George Polk Award before being named a Pulitzer finalist in 1991. He started his career as a reporter at The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Maria Douglas Reeve (M.J. ’92) has been executive editor at the Houston Chronicle since July 2021, when she became the first person of color to be named to the top job at the legacy news outlet. She has been a newsroom leader for more than 30 years. Reeve worked as a reporter and editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press for 19 years before filling a variety of leadership roles for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, including deputy metro editor and assistant managing editor. In 2019, Reeve joined the Chronicle as managing editor. She has served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes.
Bey-Ling Sha (M.J. ’95, Ph.D. '99) is considered a public relations pioneer and has been dean of the California State University, Fullerton, College of Communications since July 2019. After getting her Ph.D. from Merrill College, she worked as a public affairs officer at the U.S. Census Bureau, helping oversee promotion of the 2000 census. Sha then spent 15 years as a faculty member in public relations at San Diego State University. Her research on gender and race in public relations was groundbreaking, and she won such awards as the Institute for Public Relations’ Pathfinder Award and the Public Relations Society of America’s Outstanding Educator of the Year.
Sandra Dawson Long Weaver (B.S. ’74) co-founded the National Association of Black Journalists and was the first Black woman to serve as managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, where she was also vice president for newsroom operations. Her 47-year journalism career included stops at The Wilmington Journal, The Bulletin in Philadelphia and The Tennessee Tribune. She served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes in 2005 and 2006, and led a team that was a Pulitzer finalist in 1992. Weaver is also president, CEO and founder of the consulting firm Dawson Media Group.
Reese Cleghorn, who died in 2009, was once called “the most outstanding dean of an American journalism school in the second half of the 20th century" by Eugene L. Roberts, former managing editor of The New York Times and a fellow Merrill College faculty member. After a remarkable journalism career, Cleghorn served as Merrill College dean from 1981 until 2000, diversifying the student body and expanding the college’s capabilities, leading the school to national prominence. His journalism career included positions at The Atlanta Journal, The Associated Press, The Charlotte Observer and The Detroit Free Press, where he was associate editor.
That group will be joined by Merrill College’s UMD Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni honorees:
2016 - Adam Ostrow ’04
2013 - Mi-Ai Parrish ’92
2012 - Lori Beecher ’87
2011 - Amal Mudallali, Ph.D. ’97
2009 - Mei Xu, M.A. ’92
2008 - Connie Chung ’69
2007 - Emory K. Kristof ’64
2006 - Jay A. Kernis ’74
2005 - Ralph W. Crosby ’56
2004 - DeWayne Wickham ’74
2003 - Jane Healy ’71
2001 - Jerome M. Ceppos ’69
For more information, contact:
Katie Aune
kaune@umd.edu
301-405-2420
Josh Land
joshland@umd.edu
301-405-1321