Philip Merrill College of Journalism | University of Maryland

Jack Nelson Leaves Board; Succeeded by Doyle McManus

For Immediate Release Dec. 14, 2001

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Jack Nelson, the Pulitzer-winning Washington correspondent and former Washington bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, is stepping down from the Philip Merrill College’s Board of Visitors. Nelson, a member of the Board dating to 1983 when it was formed by then-Dean Reese Cleghorn, timed the decision with his recent retirement as chief Washington correspondent with the Times bureau.

"I think a Board member should be active in the journalism business," Nelson told Dean Tom Kunkel and the board at its Nov. 5 meeting, "and my retirement plans are effectively ending that."

Nelson will be succeeded on the board by Doyle McManus, Times Washington bureau chief and a frequent panelist on the long-running public affairs TV program, "Washington Week in Review."

Nelson was among 13 leading journalists and news executives appointed to the board shortly after Cleghorn became dean of the College. By 1985, the board had worked with faculty and staff to develop a five-year excellence plan called "Toward 1990: Creating a Model Professional School." Heralded nationally by other journalism educators, it became the blueprint for what is now a top-ranked professional school.

The current 19-member board is chaired by Eleanor Merrill of Capital-Gazette Newspapers in Annapolis, and meets twice annually to provide outside professional advice and guidance for the College

"Jack Nelson has been a most enthusiastic supporter of our program," said Dean Tom Kunkel, "and we'll continue to seek his good guidance."

Nelson was Washington bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times from 1975-96. He won his Pulitzer Prize while a reporter at the Atlanta Journal and Constitution for a series of articles exposing irregularities in Georgia's mental institutions. He is a past president of the Gridiron Club of Washington and a former Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard.

McManus joined the Los Angeles Times in 1978 after three years as a foreign correspondent for United Press International. He has reported on presidential politics, national affairs and foreign policy from Washington under three presidents. As a foreign correspondent, he has written from more than 60 countries around the world.

For more information contact: Frank Quine, 301-405-2394