Leadership Team
The Deans
Christopher Callahan, Dean
Christopher Callahan is the founding dean of the Walter Cronkite School. He is responsible for leading a 50-member faculty and staff and 2,000 students. Prior to joining ASU, Callahan was associate dean at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland and senior editor of American Journalism Review. Before entering journalism education, Callahan was a Washington correspondent for The Associated Press. He is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the author of “A Journalist’s Guide to the Internet.”
Marianne Barrett, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Marianne Barrett is responsible for academic affairs at the Cronkite School and serves as the school’s graduate director. She joined the Cronkite School in 1994 after receiving her Ph.D. in Mass Media from Michigan State University and her MPS in Media Administration from Syracuse University. Prior to her graduate studies, Barrett was director of program scheduling for ESPN in New York. Her teaching and research focuses on media management, economics and policy.
Frederic “Fritz” Leigh, Associate Dean for Student Affairs
Fritz Leigh, associate dean for student affairs, is responsible for student services administration, faculty associate coordination, academic scheduling, equipment/space management and supervision of KASC, the school’s campus radio station. Leigh served as the first associate director of the Cronkite School from 1987 until 2005, when he was appointed associate dean.
Kristin Gilger, Assistant Dean
Kristin Gilger is assistant dean in charge of professional programs for the Cronkite School. She directs the school’s 30-plus part-time faculty members, oversees the school’s growing professional programs and serves as a liaison to the news industry. Gilger was director of Student Media at ASU from 2002-2007, directing student publications. Under her leadership, Student Media won top national awards, including the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism, Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold and Silver Crown awards and the EPpy Award for Best College Newspaper Internet Service.
The Directors
Patrick Hays, Business and Finance Director
Patrick Hays is the school’s chief budget officer. His responsibilities include administering the budget, directing personnel matters such as payroll actions, recruitment, selection and new hire actions and preparing strategic financial analyses and projections.
Bethany Taylor, Director of Development
Bethany Taylor joined the Cronkite School team in September 2005 after serving as director of major and planned gifts at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. A University of Tennessee graduate, Taylor began her career in public relations at E! Entertainment Television and later coordinated the marketing efforts for the Southern California Chapter of the March of Dimes.
Mike Wong, Director of Career Services
The Cronkite School’s long-time TV/Radio news director, Wong is now the school’s first full-time director of career services. He is the school’s chief liaison between students and the profession. As news director, Wong was responsible for the award-winning student-produced newscast ASU NewsWatch. He has coordinated television reporting workshops for the Voice of America-hosting journalists from Bosnia, Macedonia, and Slovakia and has trained journalists in Kosovo.
Other Members of the Cronkite Leadership Team
Millie Christensen, Assistant to the Dean
Millie Christensen has more than 20 years experience working directly with university leaders. She brings 10 years experience at Arizona State University working for two former presidents, two years at the University of Wyoming reporting to the dean of liberal arts, and 12 years at The George Washington University as director of administrative and fiscal affairs under the direction of the dean of international affairs.
Jim Dove, Senior Broadcast Engineer
Jim Dove is responsible for maintenance of the school’s extensive broadcast news equipment. He also works as a video editor with ESPN’s coverage of Major League Baseball and the National Football League and has won two national Emmy awards.
Sasan Poureetezadi, Director of Computer Services
Sasan Poureetezadi has worked in the information technology field for more than a decade and has been actively involved in various technology-based organizations on campus. His responsibilities include support for the school’s servers, labs, radio station and broadcast facilities. Before joining the Cronkite School, he served as computer learning director and IT director at the Boys & Girls Clubs.
