Journalism professor receives top teaching honor
A Kansas State University professor who is recognized as one of the world's leading experts in media management and media economics has been honored for her achievements in the teaching of media management.
Angela Powers, professor of journalism and mass communications in the College of Arts & Sciences at Kansas State University, has received the 2015 Barry Sherman Teaching Award. The Sherman award is the highest teaching honor of the Division of Media Management, Economics and Entrepreneurship of the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (AEJMC). The award recognizes excellence and innovation in the teaching of media management and economics.
“Angela is an excellent teacher who is able to explain complex information in an interesting way that relates to audiences. She is an asset to our division, as well as our field,” said Bozena Mierzejewska, editor of the International Journal on Media Management and past head of the Media Management, Economics and Entrepreneurship Division of AEJMC.
Presentation of the award was August 7, 2015 in San Francisco at the association's 98th annual meeting.
"Receiving the award is an honor because of my passion for teaching and working with terrific undergraduate and graduate students in the area of media management," Powers said.
As a Fulbright Scholar and an active member of the World Media Economics Association, Powers has lectured and presented her research in more than 15 countries. She has taught media management in Lithuania and helped to establish the first master’s degrees in public communication in that country. The U.S. State Department invited her to lecture on media ethics in Kuwait and conduct workshops at Cairo University for young media professionals to promote transparency in managing media organizations. She was also named a fellow at the Media Management Transformation Center in Jonkoping, Sweden, studying quality in multimedia news in developing countries.
"We are delighted to have a Barry Sherman Teaching Award winner on our faculty now,” said Birgit Wassmuth, A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications director. “Dr. Powers has established herself as an expert in global media management, and she has been very successful in bringing her expertise into the classroom. Our students are fortunate to have her as a teacher."
In addition to the 2015 Sherman Award, Powers received a Poynter Teaching Fellowship in 1992 recognizing outstanding teaching in journalism. In 1997, she received the highest university recognition of teaching when the students and faculty of Northern Illinois University awarded her the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Powers has published more than 20 refereed journal articles, 8 book chapters and two books on journalism and media management. In her most recent book to be published this summer, she worked with international scholars to analyze how mobile technology is disrupting business models in media organizations worldwide.
Powers was born in Illinois and grew up on a farm. She credits her parents for instilling a love of public affairs and news. She became interested in a journalism career in high school where she was editor of the yearbook. After attending Illinois State University, she was a television journalist for CBS and NBC affiliates. She went on to earn her doctorate from Michigan State University. In addition to Northern Illinois University and Kansas State University, Powers has also taught at Arizona State and Loyola University. She served as the Director of the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications at KSU from 2004-2012, where she is currently a full professor.
The award is named for the late Barry Sherman, who was the director of the George Foster Peabody Awards from 1991 until his death in 2000. Administered by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, the Peabody awards recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious service by radio, television, cable organizations and individuals.
“I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Sherman,” Powers said, “and I am grateful to him, my students, and colleagues at K-State for supporting my teaching and research.”
