Walter Williams (July 2, 1864–July 29, 1935) was the founder of the Missouri School of Journalism and a former president of the University of Missouri. An internationalist, he promoted the value of journalism globally.
Contents |
Williams was born in Boonville, Missouri. After graduating Boonville High School he served as an apprentice at the Boonville Topic where he made 75 cents a week, and then moved to the Boonville Advertiser. In 1888 he worked doing press releases for the Missouri State Penitentiary. After the warden began censoring his releases he resigned and began editing the Columbia Herald and began making contributions to Jefferson City, Kansas City and St. Louis newspapers and was named president of the Missouri Press Association. In 1895 he was named president of the National Editorial Association.
He began lobbying the Missouri General Assembly to establish a school of journalism in 1895. Many newspapers objected saying that reporters should follow the traditional apprentice route for training. The state eventually approved it with launching in 1908 with Williams as dean.
In 1902, Williams traveled to 27 nations on four continents to publicize the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair to the international press. After founding the School of Journalism, he continued to travel the globe, serving as a relentless publicist for both the School and the profession of journalism. In 1915, he was elected president of the Press Congress of the World; and led its first formal sessions in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1921. That same year, he lectured in Beijing and Shanghai, and established a department of journalism at China's Yenching University in 1928.[1]
In 1930, he established the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
Williams wrote the Journalist's Creed which is often evoked as the definitive code of ethics for journalists. It is posted in bronze at the National Press Club in Washington, DC and at the School of Journalism.
Williams never attended college, although honorary degrees were conferred upon him by Missouri Valley College in 1900; Kansas State University in 1909 and Washington University in 1926. A member of the university's Board of Curators, Williams became president of the University of Missouri in 1931 until his death in 1935. Before his death, he was initiated as an honorary brother of the Acacia Fraternity. He was buried in Columbia Cemetery.
A new journalism building on the Columbia, Missouri campus was named for him in 1936. A World War II liberty ship, SS Walter Williams (hull MC No. 2271) was named in his honor.
Williams has a group of scholars named after him at the University of Missouri, who are journalism students directly admitted to the journalism program who have received a 33 or above on their ACT (or 1450 on the SAT) in high school.
The Walter Williams Club is the name of the alumni association of University of Missouri Journalism School graduates.
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Stratton Brooks |
President of the University of Missouri 1931-1935 |
Succeeded by Frederick Middlebush |