Brechner Center director named national teacher of the year
Sandra Chance
(March 11, 2005) The Scripps Howard Foundation has named Sandra Chance, executive director of the University of Florida’s Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, 2004 National Journalism Teacher of the Year.
An associate professor in UF’s College of Journalism and Communications, Chance will receive the award and $10,000 in April at the Scripps Howard black-tie ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The award is given by the Scripps Howard Foundation in conjunction with The Freedom Forum, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). Another College of Journalism and Communications professor, Laurence Alexander, won a similar honor in 2002.
“I’m doubly proud,” Dean Terry Hynes said. “It’s great to see two of our faculty members who teach at the highest level being recognized. This helps demonstrate that the best research universities also can provide the best learning environment for students.”
Chance and Alexander teach the College’s Law of Mass Communications course. Chance also spends two weeks a year teaching at the University of Nevada at Reno’s Advanced Judicial Studies Program.
In his letter to letter to the Scripps Howard award committee, Department of Journalism Chair William McKeen wrote: “We have benefited greatly from her background in law, her valuable perspective on freedom-of-information issues, and her integrity and dedication to the worlds of education and journalism.”
The College is a national leader in the professional education of future
journalists and other communications practitioners. Nationally accredited,
it has programs in advertising, print and broadcast journalism, public
relations, and telecommunication production and operations, as well as
graduate-level programs in health/science communication, documentary,
media law, political communication, international communication, and
other specialties.
The Campaign for the University of Florida