Journalist Joie Chen (Medill ’82, ’83) will serve as the director of programs in Washington, D.C., for the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, according to a Monday release.

At Medill, Chen will head up the “strategy, extracurricular programs, activities, partnerships and operations” of the D.C. campus, where undergraduate and graduate students cover stories from the capital, according to the release. She will start in the role in early March.

The staff position is a modified version of what Medill has offered in the past, media relations specialist Erin Karter told The Daily in an email. Medill Prof. Ellen Shearer had served as interim director of the D.C. program, Karter said, and will continue to lead the Medill News Service and National Security Journalism Initiative.

Chen has previously worked for CBS News, CNN and Al Jazeera America. She received two national Emmy awards for her work covering the D.C. sniper attacks and the Atlanta Olympic Park bombing. Chen currently works as a consultant and host for CNN’s Courageous Studio for branded content production.

After growing up in the Evanston area, Chen — whose father is a professor emeritus at the Feinberg School of Medicine — received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Medill. She was inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement in 1997 and has served on the school’s board of directors for more than 10 years, according to the release.

“Every success I’ve ever had in my professional life I owe in some way to Medill,” Chen said in the release. “I look forward to helping to create new opportunities for (the next generation of Medill students) and to keeping Medill at the forefront of journalism education.”

This story was updated to clarify that Ellen Shearer will stay on to lead the Medill News Service and National Security Journalism Initiative.

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