Topic: College of Communication Information and Media
July 11, 2007
Ball State journalism professor David Sumner started his year correctly guessing who would be Time magazine's person of the year. It's doubtful, however, he could have guessed then that he'd be the educator of the year for a peer professional organization just six months later.
Sumner, who coordinates the journalism department's magazine program, was named 2007 Magazine Educator of the Year by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's (AEJMC) magazine division in recognition of his national leadership in magazine research and education. He will be honored at the group's annual convention Aug. 10 in Washington, D.C.
It's the 27th year the organization will salute outstanding magazine professionals and educators. Past honorees include William Shawn of The New Yorker, Richard Stolley of Time Inc. and Abe Peck of Northwestern University.
"I feel the greatest honor one can receive is to be recognized by your peers and for your service to the profession," Sumner said. "Every other year, the organization recognizes an educator in the field, and this is the highest honor I have received in my career."
A close second is his 2006 winning nomination to the Muncie Star Press' 50-over-50 awards. Why? Because the nominations came from his students, he explained.
Now, however, Sumner describes the Magazine Educator of the Year Award as "a really tremendous honor, and I'm trying to retain my humility about it."
In nominating Sumner, colleagues remarked on his generous and selfless support of magazine education and the association. He headed the association's magazine division in 1999-2000 and currently serves as managing editor of the division's online Journal of Magazine and New Media Research. In addition, as webmaster for the division, he has been instrumental in helping magazine educators nationwide share course resources and publish their work.
"The magazine division has benefited year-in and year-out from David's leadership and example," noted Joe Bernt, journalism professor at Ohio University. "David never seeks the limelight. Since his time heading the division, however, he has — through his constant support of our electronic newsletter and journal, maintenance of the listserv, promotion of attendance at convention sessions and continuing suggestions for expanding membership — made it far easier for many of us to bask in the limelight. And then there is his continuing scholarly and textbook offerings, from which we have all benefited."
Sumner is co-author of two popular textbooks in magazine journalism: "Magazines: A Complete Guide to the Industry" and "Feature and Magazine Writing: Action, Angle and Anecdotes." He also advises the award-winning student magazine Expo, named the 2006 Collegiate Magazine of the Year by the Indiana Collegiate Press Association.
Earlier this year, Sumner was one of four winners in a national contest co-sponsored by Media Industry Newsletter and Time to guess the magazine's choice for its annual "Person of the Year." Time broke with tradition and selected "You" in recognition of the power people now control at their fingertips. Sumner's prediction was that Time would select Internet services Google, YouTube and MySpace.