NY Times Journalist Named First Reynolds Visiting Professor Under New Grant

Leslie Wayne, an award-winning business reporter at The New York Times, is the first Donald W. Reynolds Visiting Professor in Business Journalism at the Cronkite School. She will teach graduate and undergraduate courses during the spring semester in the business journalism specialization at the Cronkite School. The position is made possible by a generous new three-year, $390,000 grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The Las Vegas-based foundation also supports the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and the Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the Cronkite School. In her more than 20 years with The Times, Wayne focused on investigative and enterprise reporting, covering Wall Street, campaign finance, corporate governance, municipal finance, military contractors and the aerospace industry. She is a five-time winner of the New York Times Publishers Award. “Our students are extremely fortunate to have someone of Leslie Wayne’s remarkable journalism skills here at the Cronkite School for the spring semester,” said Dean Christopher Callahan. “Thanks to the support from the Reynolds Foundation, the Cronkite School has become the center for business journalism education, with our new visiting professor joining Reynolds Chair Andrew Leckey, the Reynolds Center, our business journalism specializations on the graduate and undergraduate levels and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.” Wayne will teach the senior-level Business and Future of Journalism course and co-teach business journalism classes with Leckey. She also will be a featured speaker in the school’s First Amendment Forum on March 29, speaking on the business of politics. Wayne has an M.B.A. in finance from Columbia Business School and was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economic Journalism. She is an honors graduate of the University of Michigan. Before coming to The Times, she was a regional and business reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer and a political and statehouse reporter at The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. She has appeared in Times’ videos and podcasts, written for the Times political Caucus blog and appeared on television and radio, including CNBC and NPR. The grant that is funding the visiting professorship also will support scholarships, internships, visiting professionals and graduate assistantships in the business journalism specialization. The specialization was launched in September. Students at the undergraduate and graduate levels take coursework both at the Cronkite School and ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business. The program also offers dedicated internships with major financial news organizations around the country. “Traumatic financial events underscore the need for quality, well-trained business journalists and the Cronkite School is committed to helping meet that need,” Leckey said. “The Reynolds Foundation has repeatedly shown confidence that today’s young people can make a significant difference in reporting on the world of money.” The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. It has committed over $100 million through its journalism initiative.