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Contact: Jennifer Hollingshead
Office: (573) 882-0601
E-mail: hollingsheadj@umsystem.edu

Dean Mills Honored as Recipient of Pacheco Leadership Award

The University of Å·ÃÀÈÕb´óƬ has announced that R. Dean Mills, dean of the School of Journalism at the University of Å·ÃÀÈÕb´óƬ-Columbia, is the 2005 recipient of the Manuel T. Pacheco Academic Leadership Award.

Mills will be presented with a plaque and a $2,500 award at the Leadership Development Program Kickoff/Alumni dinner, Sept. 19, 2005 at the Lodge of the Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks. Mills also will share his views and exchange ideas on leadership in university settings during a group session of the LDP earlier that day.

Mills has served as dean of the School of Journalism for the past 16 years. Under his leadership, the school has created three research centers and currently serves as the headquarters for five professional organizations. He has led numerous fundraising efforts, including a $31 million gift, the largest in the University's history, to create the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Mills also has worked to increase the number of endowed chairs and to improve the quality and diversity of students in the school.

"Dean Mills thinks big. His vision is for the Å·ÃÀÈÕb´óƬ School of Journalism to retain and grow its indisputable reputation as the best school for the betterment of journalists and the journalism of tomorrow," said Pam Johnson, executive director of the Reynolds Journalism Institute. "He is truly a remarkable leader and dean."

Before coming to Å·ÃÀÈÕb´óƬ in 1989, Mills served as director of the Pennsylvania State University's School of Journalism and then as coordinator of graduate study in communications at California State University, Fullerton.

Mills' research has focused on journalism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, journalism ethics, reporting techniques, new media technologies and the coverage of diversity and minority issues in U.S. media. He received a bachelor's degree in Russian and journalism from the University of Iowa, a master's degree in journalism from the University of Michigan, and a doctorate in communications from the University of Illinois.

The Manuel T. Pacheco Academic Leadership Award was created in 2002 and is presented to an academic administrator who exemplifies outstanding academic leadership at the University of Å·ÃÀÈÕb´óƬ. Former University of Å·ÃÀÈÕb´óƬ President Manuel T. Pacheco was recognized as a leader who exhibited humility and respect for others, and worked diligently to develop leaders around him. Award winners exemplify these characteristics.

Nominations can be made by members of the President's Academic Leadership Institute advisory committee or any alumni of the University of Å·ÃÀÈÕb´óƬ Leadership Development Program. A University-wide committee reviews the nominees.

The Leadership Development Program was initiated by Pacheco in 1999 to develop leaders at all four UM campuses.