COLLEGE PARK -- Lucy A. Dalglish, dean of the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, on Wednesday won a prestigious Scripps Howard Award in the Administrator of the Year category, the Scripps Howard Foundation and The E.W. Scripps Company announced.
A team of primarily journalism educators selected the winner of the award, which is given in collaboration with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).
The 68th annual Scripps Howard Awards held its virtual ceremony Wednesday, and honored Dalglish "for her vision and leadership at the University of Maryland." The other finalist for the award was Alan Stavitsky, dean of the University of Nevada, Reno’s Reynolds School of Journalism.
“This award reflects the hard work and accomplishments of the Merrill College faculty, staff and students over the past nine years," Dalglish said. "I could not be more proud of the work we have done to elevate the curriculum, teaching, research and public service at the college. Thank you to Scripps Howard Foundation and AEJMC for this recognition of our very special journalism program.”
Dalglish’s accomplishments since becoming dean in 2012 were detailed in a nominating letter from Merrill College faculty and staff.
Among them are her effective leadership of a nationally recognized journalism program; promotion of diversity, inclusion and equity in the curriculum and in the college’s faculty, staff and student body; the successful, award-winning journalism produced by the college’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and Capital News Service on her watch; her collaboration across disciplines at the university and with professional news organizations; and her deft guidance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining Merrill’s high standards while in a remote learning situation.
“She improved the learning and teaching of undergraduate and graduate students, enhanced the college’s reputation and prestige within and beyond the University of Maryland, and enabled the college to serve and strengthen journalism across the state and country,” the letter said of Dalglish.
“We are happy that she has defended and advocated for journalism and its centrality in democracy. She has sustained a climate of autonomy and faculty governance, support for experimentation, and an expectation that superlative journalism is vital and worthy of respect. She deserves the Administrator of the Year Award.”
Before coming to Merrill College, Dalglish served as executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press from 2000-12 and was a media lawyer for almost five years in the trial department of the Minneapolis law firm of Dorsey & Whitney.
From 1980-93, she was a reporter and editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As a reporter, she covered beats ranging from general assignment and suburbs to education and courts. During her last three years at the Pioneer Press, she served as night city editor, assistant news editor and national/foreign editor.
Dalglish was awarded the Kiplinger Award by the National Press Foundation in 2012 for her service to journalism. She was also awarded the Wells Memorial Key, the highest honor bestowed by the Society of Professional Journalists, in 1995. A year later, she was one of 24 journalists, lawyers, lawmakers, educators, researchers, librarians and historians inducted into the charter class of the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C.
She serves on the board of the News Leaders Association, formerly known as the American Society of News Editors, and represents American schools of journalism and communication on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Dalglish earned a juris doctor degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1995; a master of studies in law degree from Yale Law School in 1988; and a bachelor of arts in journalism from the University of North Dakota in 1980.
For more information, contact:
Josh Land
joshland@umd.edu
301-405-1321