June 22, 2021
Douglas Newsom 1934-2021
Beloved by her students, she taught at TCU from 1968 to 2009 and was chair of the journalism department from 1979 to 1986.
Photo by Carolyn Cruz
June 22, 2021
Douglas Newsom 1934-2021
Beloved by her students, she taught at TCU from 1968 to 2009 and was chair of the journalism department from 1979 to 1986.
Douglas Newsom, professor emerita of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication, encouraged well-rounded public-relations students. She died in Fort Worth on May 21.
She “integrated public relations principles with excellent writing techniques,” said Amiso George, professor of strategic communication.
Newsom developed and directed the advertising/public relations master’s program. She co-authored three public relations textbooks. Among the trailblazer’s accolades, Doug received the 2008 Public Relations Foundation of Texas Educator of the Year Award. In 1982, she was the first woman to receive the Public Relations Society of America’s Educator of the Year Award. In 1985, she was the second woman to serve as president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the first public relations educator to hold that office. In 2016, she received PRSA’s Gold Anvil Award, the organization’s highest honor.
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2 Comments
I feel so guilty for being this out of the loop, that I did not know of Doug’s passing. I should’ve thanked her for her instruction and inspiration long ago. She was my PR professor and journalism adviser before I graduated with the ’73 centennial class. You know a teacher has had a positive impact on you when his or her lessons last 48 years after their expiration date. Thanks, Douglas Ann Newsom, for all you meant to all of us.
Bob Yates, Malibu CA
Having just learned online about Doug Newsom’s departure mid-2021, my condolences to all those who knew her and benefited from her irascible charm & intellectual prowess. In the late 1980s when I was Director of the American Studies Research Centre on the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad (India), Doug spent a Fulbright semester sharing her enthusiasm with scholars from throughout Asia … including brilliant Iraqi students during the halcyon days before bigotry & miscalculation fouled our world. During subsequent decades, Doug was relentless in her contributions to knowledge for the betterment of everyone. I can still hear & miss her laugh as well as ability to punctuate pomposity!
Jim Bjorkman, Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands
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