SCOTT MAIER - Associate Professor Scott Maier, a native of Seattle, is happy to be back in the Pacific Northwest. Maier recently finished his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his studies focused on new technology and media management.

In addition to his research interests in the Internet and the ways in which journalists use numbers in the news, Maier brings with him about 20 years of experience in newspapers. As a newspaper and wire-service reporter, he has covered city hall, the state legislature, Latin America and a variety of other news beats. Maier has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Associated Press and The Seattle Times.

He was founder of CAR Northwest, an industry-academic partnership providing training in computer-assisted reporting to newsrooms and journalism classes.

Maier was happy to join the faculty at the School because he has “always liked the University of Oregon because it has a strong academic program as well as a broader outlook.”

Maier was also drawn the the School’s committment to teaching. “One of the joys of teaching journalism is that students can learn not only to communicate clearly but also to effectively research and analyze complex information. Even in our fast-changing world, these are lifetime skills.”

DAN MILLER - After a five-year absence, Visiting Assistant Professor Dan Miller is back at the School of Journalism and Communication working with students in the classroom and the field to help them learn documentary film making. During his past stint with the School, Miller worked with a student who won the Northwest Regional Emmy for a Student Documentary. The documentary was one of eight of his students’ documentaries to air on Oregon Public Broadcasting that year.

Miller, who received all three of his degrees from the UO, holds a Ph.D. in telecommunications and film. He brings teaching experience from the University of Maryland at College Park and Hofstra University in New York where he was Director of the Hofstra Center for Documentary Studies and Production.

Miller will teach electronic field production and documentary television production. He is happy to be back with the Oregon Documentary Project, a program he started.

“I like the University, and I like the program,” he says. “I’m excited about working with the Oregon Documentary Project. That’s my passion.”

Miller is currently working on two projects of his own: a documentary on Kent State University from 1965-1975 and a history of Yankee Stadium.

JULIANNE NEWTON - Julianne Newton comes to the SOJC after 15 years as a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin, where she headed the photojournalism program and received The Teaching Excellence Award of the College of Education.

In teaching and in research, Newton draws on her experiences and abilities as a writer and reporter, editor and designer, photographer and artist, ethicist and theoretician. Her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Journalism with an emphasis on visual ethics and photojournalism ethics combined with her professional experience provide a unique base for her new position as associate professor in Visual Communication.

Newton says her move to Eugene and the School of Journalism and Communication was partly motivated by what she sees as unique aspects of the School.

Newton appreciates the School’s strong commitment to visual training for undergraduates, noting that such a commitment is not true of all journalism programs.

Newton’s says her personal goal is to foster in her students “the development of their own abilities to discover, the knowledge that they choose who they become, the desire to explore and affirm diverse ways of knowing, and the compulsion to make responsible, substantive contributions to society through their life work.”

JIM VAN LEUVEN - Accepting the position as School of Journalism Chair in Public Relations was a natural decision for Jim Van Leuven. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the SOJC.

“As an alum, it’s an honor and it’s fun to come back to my alma mater,” he says.

Van Leuven, who received his Ph.D. in sociology from Washington State University, teaches classes in public relations problems and management as well as media and society and media management.

He has taught at Colorado State University, Washington State University, the University of Idaho and Oregon State University, as well as in Singapore and Australia. Additionally, he brings extensive professional experience, including 20 years of consulting for clients such as the Forest Service and Comcast (formerly Jones Intercable).

In the past, Van Leuven helped expand the Colorado State public relations program in Denver and helped develop Sydney’s first graduate program in public relations. He sees a similar role for himself in the SOJC.

“There is a lot of opportunity to develop the public relations program here,” he said.

Van Leuven is currently co-authoring the fifth edition of the textbook Public Relations: The Profession and the Practice.