ASU announced Friday that Sonya Forte Duhé, who serves as director and professor in the School of Communication and Design at Loyola, will be the new dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Duhé is an award winning former anchor and television news reporter. According to ASU’s press release, she studied journalism at Louisiana State University In 1983. In 1984, she earned her Master of Science in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She also earned a Ph.D in journalism from the University of Missouri, according to Loyola University’s website.
“I have always been an educator. When I worked in television, I always took the interns under my wing,” Duhé said in the press release. “I love helping people succeed, and I want to permeate that not just through our students but through our faculty. To me, a great leader is someone who helps everyone fulfill and utilize their personal potential.”
Duhé will replace Dean Christopher Callhan, who announced he will be the next president of the University of the Pacific during the Fall 2019 semester.
See related: https://downtowndevil.com/founding-dean-of-walter-cronkite-school-announces-good-bye-to-students/
In ASU’s press release, ASU Executive Vice President and University Provost Mark Searle said that the Cronkite school is “in good hands.”
“Dr. Duhé brings a wealth of leadership, academic, and professional experiences to this position, and I am confident she will be a strong leader for school, leading it to a bright future,” he said.
Duhé, like Callahan with the Cronkite School, transformed the journalism departments at Loyola University New Orleans by overseeing the addition of graphic design, art and other journalistic strategies to classes within the department.
“On her watch, the school has undergone successful accreditation reviews and revised its curriculum both on-ground and online, and it raised more funds than ever in its 75-year history,” the press release said.
With all of her success at Loyola University, becoming the next dean of the Cronkite School will be “bittersweet” for Duhé. In the press release, Duhé said that Louisiana is where she reported on Hurricane Katrina and taught future journalists.
“Louisiana is home for me, and I love the people here, and I love Loyola,” Duhé said. “I came here in a post-Katrina world, and this university was about helping the city to rebuild and the university to rebuild. We’ve had so much support from the city, alums and from our friends, so I will miss all of that … but you know, it’s only a three-hour flight away.”
But for Duhé, the position “was just too tasty to pass up.”
“I cannot think of a more important and exciting time in journalism and mass communication education then now,” said Duhé. “It plays such a vital role in our democracy. I cannot think of another profession I would rather be in at this time.”
Duhé will start working in downtown Phoenix at the Cronkite School on July 1.
Contact the reporter at ldiethel@asu.edu
Lisa Diethelm is the Politics editor for the Downtown Devil while she studies at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix. She grew up in California and started her journalism career in high school.
