Administration
Administrators at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism include experts in areas such as journalism, student personnel services, computers and development. They run programs essential to furthering the college's academic mission, including those involving academic advising, recruitment, orientation, internships, technology, outreach to high schools, and alumni.
Thomas Kunkel, Dean
Thomas Kunkel is dean of the College and president of American Journalism Review, a national magazine published by the College. At Maryland he has served as director of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, and as editor and director of the Project on the State of the American Newspaper. A writer and editor, Kunkel has spent most of his career in newspaper management. Most recently he was deputy managing editor of the San Jose Mercury News. Prior to that he worked for the Miami Herald, The New York Times and the Cincinnati Post, and he was editor and publisher of Arizona Trend magazine. When he was named executive editor of Knight-Ridder's Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer, he was, at age 29, the youngest top editor in company history. He has written or edited five books, including "Genius in Disguise: Harold Ross of The New Yorker."
Olive Reid, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs
Olive Reid oversees undergraduate recruitment, orientation and advising at the College. She serves on a number of campus-wide committees, including the Provost's Commission on Advising and the Training Task Force. She teaches UNIV 100, which orients first-semester freshmen to the university and the journalism major.
Steve Crane, Assistant Dean
An alumnus of the College, Steve Crane now serves as the College's assistant dean. Previously he was Washington bureau director for the College's Capital News Service. Crane is a former deputy metro editor and statehouse reporter for The Washington Times. He also worked as a reporter for The Parkersburg (W.Va.) Sentinel and The South Prince George's (Md.) Independent.
Linda Ringer, Assistant Dean for Business Operations
Linda Ringer directs the College's business operations including budget details, payroll, tuition remission and other administrative business affairs.
Frank Quine, Assistant Dean for External Relations
Frank Quine joined the University of Maryland’s College of Journalism in 1988 after 18 years with the executive staff of the American Press Institute (API), the newspaper industry’s management training center in Reston, Va. He has served as chief development officer of the College and is vice president of American Journalism Review, the national magazine on press and media performance published by the Merrill College. Quine spent 10 years as a reporter and editor on Florida newspapers. He was a sports writer for the Jacksonville Journal (1959-62) and sports editor and news editor at the St. Petersburg Evening Independent (1962-69), leaving to become an associate director at API in New York City. Following API's move to Reston, he was executive director and CEO of the Institute for eight years. He is a former member of the board of directors of the Washington Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves on the Journalism Education Committee of the National Newspaper Association and the board of the Washington Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.
Marchelle Payne-Gassaway, Assistant Dean
Marchelle Payne-Gassaway has a joint appointment with the Philip Merrill College of Journalism and the University's Division of Letters & Sciences. In journalism she is the executive director of the Maryland-District of Columbia Scholastic Press Association. She also served as the director of the College's American Society of Newspaper Editors' High School Journalism Institute for journalism teachers, and plays a major role in advising journalism students, coordinating the schedule of classes and outreach/recruitment to high school students. In Letters & Sciences, she serves as liaison for the Division of Letters and Sciences and assists students interested in becoming journalism majors. A four-time All-American in the triple jump for the University of Maryland track team, Payne holds bachelor's and master's degrees in family studies from the University and is currently working on a Ph.D. in the College Student Personnel Program in the College of Education.
Matthew C. Sheehan, Assistant to the Dean, communications
Matt Sheehan, a former Washington Post assistant news editor, former Diamondback editor and a graduate of the college, has returned as assistant to the dean. Serving as director of communication for the college, Sheehan also oversees the graphics classes, facilitates special projects and alumni outreach and coordinates special events. He is a co-founder and chairman of the board of AYJ: The Association of Young Journalists, and has served as an instructor at the ASNE High School Journalism Institute, Maryland-District of Columbia Scholastic Press Association workshops, with the Post's Young Journalists Development program and was an adjunct professor at the Merrill College. He is currently pursuing a master's in business administration.
Sheila Young, Director of Development
Sheila Young is director of development for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She joined the journalism school after serving for more than 20 years at the Baltimore Sun in various leadership positions. Young has been a copy editor, country bureau chief, Washington news editor, health editor, assistant city editor, assistant national editor, electronic news editor and most recently as assistant managing editor, where she managed a $32 million operation budget. Young is a 1977 journalism graduate of Penn State University, where she was editor of the campus daily. She worked as a copy editor and world news editor for The Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y., before joining The Sun. Young will help lead the College’s fund-raising drive for a new $25 million journalism building on the College Park campus.
Penny Bender Fuchs, Director of Career & Professional Development Services
Penny Bender Fuchs heads the administration of student internships, career placement and scholarships. Fuchs, who has many industry contacts from her long journalism career, is also executive director of the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors. Prior to joining the College, she spent seven years at Gannett News Service, covering Washington for The Tennessean. She also has worked at States New Service, The Daily Press in Newport News, Va. the Lynchburg (Va.) News & Advance and the Daily Record in Harrisburg, Va. A 2000 master's graduate of the Merrill College, Fuchs continues her doctoral studies at the College and plans to finish her dissertation in about a year.
Clinton Bucco, Director of Computing Services
Clint Bucco oversees the College's computer laboratories and the computers used in offices in the Journalism Building, and he provides software and technical support to the College's faculty and staff. He also maintains the local journalism servers and networks, including those for UMTV, American Journalism Review, Capital News Service and the College's affiliated journalism centers.