Parks to serve as director


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Michael Parks, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and former  Los Angeles Times editor, will lead the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism as interim director for the second time, Annenberg announced Tuesday.

The decision comes after Douglas Foster, a Northwestern University professor, withdrew from the director position after accepting it Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

This will be Parks’ second time as interim director for the school, serving in the position before in 2001 after being a part of the Annenberg faculty for a year. In March 2002, he was named director and served until June 2008, when outgoing director Geneva Overholser was selected.

Overholser announced in November that she will step down as director in June, at which point the school launched a recruitment campaign for her successor. The search for a new director will continue as Parks heads the school.

Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III said Parks’ experience will positively impact the school and its students.

“Michael Parks is a real star,” Wilson said in a statement. “His extraordinary wisdom and experience will be invaluable to our students, faculty and staff.”

Early in his career, Parks reported internationally and won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his coverage of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He served as the Los Angeles Times editor from 1997 to 2000.

Parks said he looks forward to returning to Annenberg at a time of great change, including the construction of the Wallis Annenberg Hall, which is slated to open in fall 2014.

“We have great students and a terrific faculty that is looking forward to taking full advantage of this wonderful new building and all the opportunities that it will provide in developing an even more innovative program for our students,” Parks said. “I’m proud to lead the USC Annenberg Journalism School as we move closer to this remarkable milestone.”

During Parks’ first term, he guided the creation and adoption of a new core reporting curriculum in print, broadcast and new media programs. He also expanded the international reporting programs and developed the school’s focus on covering diverse communities.