Barry Hollander Memorial Fund

Students remember his wit and his gruff sense of humor. Alumni remember his relentless pursuit of accuracy and the verification of facts in journalism. Others remember his regular classroom challenge: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” Everyone remembers his passion for journalism and educating the next generation.

Barry Hollander, professor of journalism at Grady College for 26 years, died on Jan. 30, 2018.

“Barry was a great journalist and journalism professor,” Charles Davis, dean of Grady College said. “He taught the fundamentals of reporting to nearly every journalism and public relations student in Grady for more than 20 years, and he delighted in following their work in The Red & Black and Newsource.”

Hollander joined Grady College as an assistant professor in 1991, and taught hundreds of students how to report sound, fact-based journalism. He was the first professor many Grady students had for basic reporting and information gathering, and he taught graduate students public opinion and special topics classes.

Hollander’s classes were the first many took at Grady College, and although he sprinkled anecdotes throughout his lectures, he taught that it was not anecdotes, but facts, that made the story. His red pen was well known in the halls of Grady, but his lessons encouraged countless students to appreciate the hallmarks of journalism as much as he did.

Outside of the classroom, Hollander was an avid poster on Twitter, his blog, What People Know, and on the platform, Medium, citing transparent observations about politics, data, the University of Georgia and his illness.

Hollander’s words can best be summed up by reading his obituary, which he wrote: “I never once regretted accepting the UGA job, though once or twice perhaps Grady did. I got to work with the very best faculty in the world, got to work with the very best students in the world, and got to live and raise a family in the very best town in the world. I’m convinced Heaven, assuming I go there, looks a lot like Athens.”

The Barry Hollander Memorial Fund will provide support to the Department of Journalism.