Bradley Hamm, the current dean of Indiana University’s School of Journalism, will replace outgoing Medill Dean John Lavine, University administrators announced Thursday morning at a packed McCormick Tribune Center Forum.
Hamm’s appointment caps a nearly six-month search for Lavine’s replacement, a process scrutinized by a Medill community eager to answer lingering questions about the direction of a school that has undergone more change during the past decade than ever before.
University President Morton Schapiro told The Daily last week the finalists came from a very diverse set of journalism backgrounds that sparked “spirited discussions” among administrators about the best choice for the school.
The appointment of Hamm, who told The Daily he does not yet have a specific set of goals for Medill and who brings a more traditional set of journalism experiences than the digitally oriented Lavine, provides a less-than-definitive answer about the future trajectory of Medill. But both University administrators and Hamm said that vision will become clearer once Hamm is settled at Medill.
“I really want to get to know the students, the faculty, before we decide how to move from here,” Hamm said in an interview with the daily. “You’ve got such a great foundation at Medill, it’s a good place to build even as media changes.” Road to Medill Hamm started his career as a sports journalist before becoming the associate dean of the then-newly formed Elon School of Communications in 2001 and assuming his most recent post at Indiana in 2005.
At Indiana, Hamm established a reputation for pushing students to seek journalism experiences abroad.
“He really made sure that journalism was more than just going to class every day, ” said MJ Slaby, a senior journalism student at Indiana and the former editor in chief of the Indiana Daily Student.
Hamm also created the country’s first master’s program for sports journalism at Indiana, and Provost Daniel Linzer credited him Thursday with helping to diversify the journalism school’s student body by more than 60 percent. Hamm’s twin brother, Benjamin Hamm, is also actively involved in media.
Benjamin Hamm is the editorial director of the Shelbyville, Ky.-based Landmark Community Newspapers, LLC, which is in charge of news for more than 60 newspapers across the country.
“My brother and I talk all the time about issues in media,” the new dean said. “We are always having conversations about how to stay true to principles of good journalism and adapt to new media.”
Hamm said he will need to get a better sense of Medill’s culture and speak with more faculty and alumni before he establishes any specific goals.
“You really need to let any new member of Medill get their feet wet first,” said Alec Klein, director of the Medill Innocence Project. “It’s a very particular culture. I think he’s smart to figure that out before we expect him to do anything else.” The Lavine Era When Hamm officially takes over as dean Sept. 1, he will inherit a school that evolved rapidly, and not without controversy, during Lavine’s six-year tenure. The outgoing dean helped to craft and implement the Medill 2020 plan, which pushed the school in a more digital- and audience-driven direction and offered a certificate program in Integrated Marketing and Communications.
Lavine’s tenure was also marked by his highly publicized and often tense relationship with David Protess, a former professor and founder of the famed Medill Innocence Project. Protess was one of the most vocal critics who demanded Lavine turn over a source list after a Daily columnist accused the dean of fabricating quotes in a Northwestern Magazine feature he wrote about a Medill advertising class.
A University committee eventually cleared Lavine of any wrongdoing, but tensions resurfaced last spring when Protess was removed from teaching his signature investigative journalism class. The decision coincided with the release of information from a University-led investigation that accused Protess of doctoring emails and withholding documents he was supposed to turn over to officials. Protess denied the charges.
The strained relationship between Protess and Lavine played out on the pages of Th
e New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and other notable publications after Protess announced his retirement last summer.
But when Lavine announced his own retirement last September, he told the daily the recent press had not influenced his decision.
“A year ago I said to the provost, ‘We’re at the end,'” Lavine told The Daily in September. “I’ve done a lot of the things I set out to do, and now I have other things I would like to go and do.”
On Thursday, Lavine said he had just a few conversations with Hamm but felt confident in the University’s selection.
“Every dean makes their own mark,” Lavine told the daily after the announcement. “(Hamm) doesn’t need my advice. He will be just fine – he has good ideas.” The Search Lavine’s announcement ushered in a search for Medill’s next dean. Medill professor Jack Doppelt led the process as chair of the search committee.
Doppelt said he knew the process of finding the next dean wouldn’t be easy, but that the emphasis throughout was on finding a candidate who could help foster and maintain a sense of community at Medill.
“‘Community’ is really the best word for it,” Doppelt said. “And that extends beyond the walls here. It’s about presenting what Medill is all about to people outside of the school. But that person is not always easy to find.”
The 14-person committee began its search in November, holding open forums for input and compiling a list of candidates to present to the Provost’s office for review.
At a meeting with the daily last week, Schapiro said the choice was “difficult.” Final candidates recently met with Schapiro, who said the decision was still uncertain early last week.
Hamm said he got “the call” last Friday from the Provost’s office.
“I was just so excited,” Hamm said. “Obviously I’m sad to leave a great place like (Indiana), but Medill was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
An email from a Medill marketing director early Thursday morning invited students and faculty “to come meet the new dean.”
Amid the pageantry of the announcement – purple Northwestern sweatshirts were presented to Hamm and his family, lunch was laid out in the auditorium and Medill professors chatted with him afterward – Schapiro reiterated the “high-stakes” nature of choosing Lavine’s successor. In opening remarks, Schapiro said that both the “first-rate” Medill brand and the challenges of teaching new journalism made selecting the next dean a particularly important task.
“It’s daunting taking over such a preeminent institution and taking over for John (Lavine), ” Schapiro said to Hamm. “We know you’re the right person.”
Hamm will move to Evanston at the end of July and officially take over as dean next September.
katherinedriessen@u.
