Samford University’s Department of Journalism and Mass communication will induct three members into its new Wall of Fame during Homecoming weekend activity Saturday, Nov. 7.

Inaugural inductees are Samford journalism  professor Jon Clemmensen,  newspaper journalist Carol Nunnelley and book publisher Randall Williams.

The Wall of Fame was created to recognize people who have “made exceptional contributions to the department or to the field of journalism and mass communication,” according to JMC department chair Dr. Bernie Ankney.

The induction ceremony will be at 11:15 a.m. in Samford’s Beeson University Center. The event will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of the journalism curriculum as a department. The public is invited.

Clemmensen joined the Samford faculty in 1985 to re-establish a journalism program that had been dormant for a decade. He served as department chair for 12 years. He previously taught at the University of Florida and was statewide director of the Florida Scholastic Press Association. He lives in Birmingham.

Nunnelley, projects director for Associated Press Managing Editors, leads NewsTrain, a training program for editors that has worked with more than 4,000 journalists across the country. It most recently developed a national online journalism credibility project. She formerly led the National Credibility Roundtables Project, was managing editor of The Birmingham News, and co-chaired the Alabama Center for Open Government. A resident of Birmingham, she is a 1965 Samford graduate.

Williams, a writer, editor, publication designer and book publisher, is editor-in-chief of New South Books, Inc. A former reporter, editor and publisher of daily and weekly newspapers, he also worked at Southern Poverty Law Center, where he produced publications and investigated cases of racism. Williams, who lives in Montgomery, Ala., was a Samford  student in the 1970s, and editor of the school newspaper, The Crimson. A conflict over the definition of news cost him his scholarship his senior year.

The honorees were nominated by the JMC faculty and voted on by the department’s advisory council, which includes alumni, faculty, students and area media  professionals.

 

 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.