Cronkite Supporters Establish New Fund to Commemorate School's Namesake

A group of supporters of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University is creating a fund to honor the school’s namesake and educate future generations about the importance of the journalistic values his work embodied.

“The Cronkite School’s alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends and supporters lost our mentor, guiding light and great friend when Walter Cronkite passed away on July 17,” said Dean Christopher Callahan. “It is heartwarming to see community members come forward to celebrate Walter’s life and his deep 25-year commitment to the school by establishing this fund.”

The founding donors of the fund include media attorney Tom Chauncey, who with his late father helped bring Cronkite to ASU in 1984, and his wife Kathy; Food Network founder and TV industry executive Jack Clifford; long-time Cronkite School supporters Don and Sharon Ulrich; Fox11-Los Angeles anchor Christine Devine (class of ‘87); Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall (class of ’91); New York attorney Craig Newman (class of ’79); Professor Tim McGuire and Cronkite School chief engineer Jim Dove.

“As a 50-year plus professional broadcaster and member of the Cronkite Endowment Board, I have had the great pleasure of knowing Mr. Cronkite on a personal level for a number of years,” Clifford said. “This effort to honor him is an important one. Future students of the Cronkite School must know of this man’s contribution to journalism. This fund will ensure that and will assist the school in developing journalists who will strive to meet the high standards of professionalism Walter Cronkite established.”

The Walter Cronkite Fund for Excellence in Journalism will, among other things, support a new annual event at the Cronkite School to celebrate Cronkite’s legacy and to educate future generations about the former CBS News anchor, his career and the principles and values that he exemplified.

In addition, the Cronkite School will be using the funds to erect two pictorial timelines – one of Cronkite’s career and the other of his association with the school – that will be displayed prominently in the Cronkite building.

“As an alumnus of the Cronkite School, I can think of no finer way to honor both Mr. Cronkite’s life and my alma mater than by making a donation to the school that will help it keep Mr. Cronkite’s legacy alive,” Newman said.

Donations can be made to the fund on the Cronkite School’s Web site or by check made payable to the ASU Foundation (mail to Cronkite School, 555 N. Central Avenue, Suite 302, Phoenix, Ariz. 85004). For more information about making a donation to the Walter Cronkite Fund for Excellence in Journalism, contact Liz Bernreuter at 602.496.5555 or elizabeth.bernreuter@asu.edu.