Search the Internet          Tips

Indian Heads Media Schools Association

George Joseph
India Abroad correspondent in New York

Dr. George Thottam, chairman of the department of mass communication, Iona College, New Rochelle, New York, has been elected president of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC).

He is the first foreign-born person to head the organization which consists of departments, schools and colleges of journalism and mass communication in the US and seven other countries.

He won the election with seven votes in an electoral college of 350. The electors are deans or department chairs in journalism schools. One school has one vote only.

"Nobody expected me to win," Dr. Thottam told India Abroad. In fact, he said, he was made a candidate just because of that. His opponent, Dr. Trevor Brown from Indiana was considered invincible and many members wanted a weak candidate against him. They even promised to support Dr. Thottam in the next election for the 'sacrifice' in this year's election.

The ASJMC provides leadership for mass communication education in the US and also works as a liaison between educators and media organizations across the world.

Dr Thottam was recently named dean of the College of Communication at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. He is the first Asian to be named dean of a school or college of journalism and communications in the US, and the third born in a foreign nation.

College of Communication at Rowan is one of the largest colleges in the field with 800 undergraduates and 120 graduates. He will take up the new post next month. There are 49 departments in the college while there are only nine in Iona.

"George Thottam was the unanimous choice of the search committee and senior administrators," said Donald Farish, president of Rowan University. "Dr. Thottam is an accomplished author, a respected educator and a leader in the field of communication. We are fortunate to have been able to attract someone with his credentials and unique international perspective."

A graduate of Columbia University Dr. Thattam had won Journalism Teacher of the Year award from The Freedom Forum last year, that too a first for an Asian. He is also the president of the professional education section of the International Association for media Communications Research and a member of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

He has taught at Iona since his graduation from the Columbia in 1979.During that time, he helped build the college's largest undergraduate programs in corporate and public communications, and print and online journalism. He also established the Journalism Institute for Minority High School Students, a three-credit summer course and a Journalism and Mass Communication Day to attract minority students to careers in journalism.

He is from Elanji in Kottayam district of Kerala. After his pre university studies at St. Thomas College, Palai, he went to Bombay for his MA and Ph.D degrees. He came to the US on a scholarship to study at Columbia.

"Journalism is fortunate to have such devoted and energetic teachers who set high standards for their students. We are proud to honor him," said Felix Gutierrez, senior vice president and executive director of the freedom Forum Pacific Coast center, when Thottam was selected for its award last year.

Prior to teaching, he served as a foreign correspondent for several English and Malayalam newspapers in India. He is credited to have written the first book on journalism in Malayalam in 1968.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report