Herndon recognized as Milwaukee Fellow by ALE

Grady faculty member Keith Herndon was recognized by the Association of Leadership Educators (ALE) as the newest member of its Milwaukee Fellows program at the association’s annual conference this July in Philadelphia.

The program, named for the association’s founding location, “honors individuals who have demonstrated unwavering commitment to ALE and fosters continued involvement with the association,” said Brittany-Adams Pope, ALE’s immediate past president and UGA faculty with the Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, a unit of Public Service and Outreach.

Herndon, a professor of practice in journalism, holds the Morris Chair in News Strategy and Management and was formerly the executive director of the Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership. 

He joined ALE and attended his first conference a decade ago in Sacramento, California, and has not missed a conference since. He was part of presenting 10 peer-reviewed conference practice papers, including two recognized with distinguished paper awards, two posters including one outstanding poster award and he has had five peer-reviewed practice articles published in the association’s Journal of Leadership Education.

In 2013, Herndon launched a leadership education initiative for Grady’s top journalism students that has since become the Cox Institute’s Levin Leaders program, which provides leadership training and scholarships for 10 deserving journalism students each academic year.

Herndon’s commitment to leadership education attracted the support of Adam Levin and his wife Heather McDowell through the McDowell-Levin Charitable Giving Fund and the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation. In turn, this support allowed the Cox Institute to be a multi-year sponsor of ALE conferences and other association initiatives.

“Leadership education has been an important element of my teaching at Grady, including the Levin Leaders program and through a variety of courses in media management, ethics and entrepreneurship,” Herndon said. “The professional support from ALE and its members have been vitally important to my teaching and program development. It’s been an honor to give back to the organization and to receive this recognition.” 

Author: Keith Herndon, klhern@uga.edu