New endowment could revive journalism program

Establishment of the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor in Journalism at UND is expected to assist in re-establishing accreditation of the School of Communication, a top UND official said Wednesday.

The professorship, established last year with a generous donation from Charles R. “Chuck” Johnson – an eminent sports journalist and a UND alumnus – is only the second such position in the College of Arts and Sciences, said Pamela Kalbfleisch, director of the School of Communication.

Johnson retired as assistant news editor of the Milwaukee Journal in 1986 and died here Jan. 13 at age 79. He graduated from UND in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Kalbfleisch said Johnson donated more than $250,000, the bench-mark set for establishing an endowed professorship.

“With this fund, we expect to attract a top faculty member to our program,” she said.

The presence of an eminent journalist as faculty, she said, would help improve the standards and assist in re-establishing its accreditation, which the School of Communication lost in the early 1990s.

The first Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor is likely to be appointed this fall.

Helping out

Recollecting her frequent interaction with Johnson, Kalbfleisch said he wanted to help the UND School of Communication in any way that he could; establishing the Endowed Professorship in Journalism was a step in the direction of improving the faculty.

Kalbfleisch said Johnson interacted with students of the school and also delivered talks at regular intervals. A longtime sports editor of the Milwaukee Journal and author of several books about the Green Bay Packers, he was one of the best-known UND journalism graduates, a fact acknowledged by university President Charles Kupchella after Johnson’s death.

“He never forgot the start he got in sports reporting at the University of North Dakota,” Kupchella said in a statement.

Johnson served the university in many ways over the years, especially on the board of the UND Alumni Association and Foundation. Johnson moved back to Grand Forks in 2000 so that he could be close to the university he loved and where he could lend his considerable talents to its various activities.

Kalbfleisch said the school is accepting contributions from alumni and other friends who would like to contribute to the position.