NORMAN – Award-winning newspaper editor and reporter Ed Kelley, who has been serving as Director of Experiential Learning for the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Oklahoma, has been named interim Dean, pending approval of the OU Board of Regents.
An OU journalism alumnus, Kelley will address – on an interim basis – the responsibilities of the position previously held by Joe Foote, who resigned his administrative post to rejoin the college’s faculty after a decade as the college’s leader. The permanent successor to Foote will be named after an appropriate selection process.
“The University is extremely fortunate that Ed Kelley is willing to return to his alma mater to serve as Dean of Journalism and Mass Communications,” said OU President David L. Boren. “An outstanding journalist, Kelley has for years demonstrated his care and concern for the College and its students. Like Joe Foote, he will be a student-oriented Dean.”
As Director of Experiential Learning, Kelley has been working with students, faculty and employers to increase internship opportunities for students. It was a summer internship with The Oklahoman that launched Kelley’s 36-year career with the paper. Over the years, he held a variety of positions, including state roving reporter, city editor and business editor. For four years in the mid-1980s, he served as the paper’s Washington bureau chief. He returned to Oklahoma City in 1990 to be managing editor. In 2002, he became editorial page editor. In 2003, Kelley succeeded Edward L. Gaylord as editor of The Oklahoman and served in that role until 2011.
“I’m honored to have been asked to serve in this position at my alma mater,” Kelley said. “It’s an exciting time in journalism, and the faculty and staff at Gaylord College are working hard to ensure students have the skills needed to succeed as professionals upon graduation,” he said.
Kelley returned to OU from Salt Lake City, where he was senior contributing editor at The Deseret News. He also has served as editor of The Washington Times.
A recipient of numerous journalism awards, Kelley was named national Editor of the Year in 1996 by the Washington-based National Press Foundation for directing The Oklahoman’s coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing. He served as a juror to the Pulitzer Prizes in 1998 and is a member of the National Press Club and the American Society of News Editors. Kelley was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2003.
Kelley earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from OU, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.
