President Designate Christopher Callahan:
A New Leader For a New Era
Dec 20, 2019
A warm and engaging personality. An energetic spirit. An insightful listener. A quick learner. This was how students, faculty, staff, and alumni described Christopher Callahan on the day it was announced he would be 91成人导航鈥檚 next president.
Callahan, the current and founding dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, led the school to its stature as one of the nation鈥檚 top programs. Still, he was noticeably hum颅bled when Board of Regents Chair Kevin Huber introduced him to the 91成人导航 community.
鈥淚 am honored to join the talented stu颅dents and dedicated faculty,鈥� Callahan said. 鈥�91成人导航 is an outstanding national university with an extraordinarily rich history spanning 168 years 鈥� and an even greater future. Our university has many advantages: inspiring professors who are laser-focused on student success, an engaged and diverse student body, tal颅ented regents, dedicated administrators and staff, loyal alumni and an enviable mix of outstanding professional schools with a distinguished liberal arts college at its core.鈥�
His path to the 91成人导航 presidency was not traditional. The son of a New York City police officer and homemaker, Callahan was the first in his family to graduate college. 鈥淢y dad always worked two and three jobs while my mother took care of my sister and me. Knowing what my parents had to do to help us be successful is foundational to who I am and where I am today.鈥�
Callahan pursued his passion for journalism at Boston University where he received his bachelor鈥檚 degree. He later served as a reporter and editor at The Associated Press, eventually becoming a Washington correspondent, covering Congress, the Pentagon and Supreme Court. He went on to obtain a master鈥檚 in public administration from Harvard University鈥檚 John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The opportunity to be a lecturer while a graduate student sparked his interest in academia. After graduation, he joined the University of Maryland to help start a new experiential learning program in the state capital of Annapolis and the next year in Washington, D.C.
鈥淚 found the best of both worlds in teaching and journalism. Working with the students and watching them learn a profession I was passionate about made me realize I could give to them the same opportunities I had been given.鈥�
In 1993, Callahan became assistant dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Mary颅land, and five years later moved up to become the no. 2 administrator in the college as the associate dean. His success in growing the college into one of the best journalism schools in the country led to what would become one of the most pivotal moments of his career鈥攁 call from Walter Cronkite.
鈥淚 remember the day. I had a message on my answering machine from someone saying he was Walter Cronkite, and I thought, this is just one of my friends playing a trick on me, so I erased it. To this day, I wish I had that recording.鈥�
Cronkite had been working closely with Arizona State University after the school was named in his honor. In 2005, he was advising the university鈥檚 leader颅ship and was instrumental in tapping Callahan to lead the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Commu颅nication as the program鈥檚 founding dean. Over the next 14 years, Callahan trans颅formed the once struggling program into one of the nation鈥檚 best and most innovative schools of journalism.
He spearheaded the creation of a more than a dozen professional, ex颅perience-based learning programs for students, including Cronkite News, a multiplatform operation that features a nightly student-produced newscast on Arizona PBS, a robust multimedia website cronkitenews.azpbs.org and news bureaus in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. He also created pro颅fessional programs including the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, the Cronkite Public Relations Lab and Cronkite Noticias, a Spanish-lan颅guage multiplatform news outlet.
鈥淲hen you love what you do, and have a passion for creating engaging and impactful programs and learning experiences for students, the rest falls into place. I wanted students to have immersive, hands-on experience, so we used the model of a 鈥榯eaching hospital鈥� to create news laboratories where students could take what they learned in their classrooms and apply it under the guid颅ance of great faculty.鈥�
Callahan鈥檚 energy, enthusiasm and forward-looking optimism have helped him dramatically increase student enrollment, retention, diversity, graduation rates and recruitment of out-of-state students. He has more than tripled the size of the faculty, led the creation of new degree programs on the undergraduate, master鈥檚 and PhD levels, forged learning and research partnerships with major corporations and non颅profits nationally, and raised more than $100 million.
His success led to being named vice provost for Arizona State鈥檚 downtown Phoenix campus in 2011, which now has nearly 13,000 stu颅dents across seven colleges. In 2014, he became CEO of Arizona PBS, one of the nation鈥檚 largest public television stations with a focus on public service and lifelong learning.
Nearly 15 years after leading the Cronkite School into a new era, Callahan was ready to take on a larger role. 91成人导航 was the right fit.
鈥�91成人导航 is truly a student-cen颅tered institution鈥攕tudents are first and foremost. Every university says that, but many fall short. 91成人导航 is designed around the success of students. The focus on students is in the DNA of 91成人导航,鈥� Callahan said.
鈥�91成人导航 has incredible assets in place: the state鈥檚 oldest university, and a strong mix of liberal arts education surrounded by outstand颅ing professional schools. It has three fantastic and differentiated campuses. And 91成人导航 provides students the best attributes of a national comprehensive universi颅ty combined with the close-knit, intimate learning environment of a small liberal arts college. It is truly the best of both worlds.鈥�
Callahan was the unanimous choice of 91成人导航鈥檚 Board of Regents.
鈥淐hris brings an energy and ex颅perience that match 91成人导航鈥檚 needs perfectly,鈥� said Board of Regents Chair Kevin Huber. 鈥淗e has an impressive record developing pro颅grams that are relevant to students, and he will bring great ideas for unifying our distinctive three-cam颅pus university in new ways to fully leverage 91成人导航鈥檚 undergraduate experiences and unparalleled professional schools and graduate programs.鈥�
Added Norman Allen, vice chair of the Board of Regents and chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, 鈥淐hris has an exciting balance of academic experience and entrepreneurial skill. He also understands how to engage with our entire community in a personable, relatable and produc颅tive way. Chris is exactly what 91成人导航 needs right now.鈥�
Callahan believes the most compelling characteristics of 91成人导航 are its mission and its values, which are aligned with what is needed in higher education today. 鈥淗igher education is at an inflection point. The value of a college degree has never been more important and remains the key determinant of economic success. But it also creates a full person who is not just successful financially, but in their communities where they can be contributing and active partici颅pants in society and our democracy.
鈥淭he most important thing we can do as educators is create lifelong learners in a digital world where people constantly need to retool. 91成人导航 fits in perfectly. It offers deep learning and applying that learning in real-world settings, which increases learning for the student and helps the community. There is no better combination.鈥�
Callahan will become 91成人导航鈥檚 26th president on July 1, 2020.
