UA professor, FOI advocate honored

Congratulations to David Cuillier, assistant professor at The University of Arizona School of Journalism and chairman of the national Freedom of Information committee for SPJ. Cuillier won AEJMC's "Promising Professor" award and was recently named a research fellow for 2009-2010 by the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the UA.

An assistant professor in The University of Arizona School of Journalism took first place in the national "Promising Professor" faculty competition. The award is given by the Mass Communication Society division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, known as AEJMC.

David Cuillier, who teaches courses on public affairs reporting and computer-assisted reporting, will be honored as one of the nation's best and brightest teachers at AEJMC's national conference Aug. 5-8 in Boston. The competition was open to faculty who have taught no more than five years full-time. Cuillier also won the graduate student category of the competition in 2004 while a doctoral student at Washington State University.

At the conference, Cuillier will give a presentation about his teaching and present two research papers: one based on a study that shows skepticism is closely tied to support for freedom of information, and the other about teaching methods in journalism education. He also was invited to speak on a panel about press access to law enforcement information.

More here.