Dean of the College of Journalism & Communications Appointment

Joseph Glover, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

I am pleased to announce that Hub Brown, associate dean and associate professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, has been named dean of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.

Professor Brown will assume his new position on July 1, 2021. He succeeds Diane McFarlin, who will retire at the end of this year after having served eight years in that role.

Professor Brown currently serves as associate dean for research, creativity, international initiatives and diversity, and an associate professor of broadcast and digital journalism. As associate dean, he has managed the Newhouse School’s incentives to facilitate research and creative activity, aided department chairs, the School’s Diversity Committee and individual faculty members in promoting diversity in curriculum, faculty hiring and student recruitment, and promoted international engagement among faculty and students, including student/faculty exchange, memoranda of understanding and promotion of the Newhouse School abroad.

Professor Brown has been a member of the faculty of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications since 1996.  There, he has taught broadcast reporting, newscast production and performance, mass media ethics, and media and diversity.

He has been active nationally in issues of journalism and mass communications education.  He is a member of the Hearst Journalism Awards Steering Committee. He has served as head of the Electronic News Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.  He’s also a former member of the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and has taken part in accreditation site visits at JMC programs all over the country. Professor Brown is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Broadcast Education Association.

Professor Brown has more than 15 years’ experience in reporting, producing and anchoring, for commercial local news and in public television.  His experience ranges from political and state government reporting to producing public affairs documentaries.

Professor Brown is a native of Omaha, Nebraska, and has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He and his wife, Nicci, have two children, Maddi and Haley. In addition, Brown has a daughter, Sacheen Winston, who lives in Seattle with her daughter, Olukumi Ashe’.

His experience in academia with one of the nation’s leading communications programs and his experience as a working journalist give him invaluable perspective as he steps up to lead the college at this critical time in its history. I have tremendous confidence in him, and I know the college will be in excellent hands.

Please join me in welcoming Hub Brown to the University of Florida.