School of Journalism Associate Professor Carol Holstead is the recipient of the 2009-10 Budig Teaching Professorship of Writing for the School of Journalism, established by former KU Chancellor Gene Budig.

As part of her award, Holstead will present a public address in the spring to the School of Journalism and the public on the importance of teaching writing.

"Excellence in writing is critical to good journalism,” said School of Journalism Dean Ann Brill. “Prof. Holstead is very deserving of this honor and we are looking forward to her lecture in the spring on the importance of good writing."

Holstead has taught at the School of Journalism since 1990. She has taught classes in reporting and editing, visual communication, ethics and various courses in magazine and publication writing, editing, design and production. She teaches the advanced media course for students who write for Jayplay, the University Daily Kansan’s weekly lifestyle magazine insert.

“I am really honored to win this, but I'm just one in a long line of capable people who teach our students how to write,” Holstead said. “William Zinsser says he's not sure writing can be taught, but he believes it can be learned, and I agree with that. People learn to write by doing, and by thinking about what they've done, and rewriting. Teachers can lead students to the trail head, but they can't take the path for them. Student can have ah-ha moments when they are learning to write that improve their work. For example, a student might have trouble identifying passive voice, and then one day, he sees it. And after that he always sees it and he writes in active voice, so in that way, his writing becomes instantly better. But learning to write is slogging through and getting better through accumulated experience.”

In addition to teaching and research, Holstead has run the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Student Magazine Contest for many years, helping aspiring journalists nationally become better writers and designers. She also operates a magazine internship placement program for KU journalism students, and is the professional consultant to KU Giving, the University of Kansas’ fundraising magazine.

Before coming to KU she was an editor at Vance Publishing Corporation in Overland Park, Kan., where she worked on magazines including Supermarket Floral, Produce & Floral Retailing, Fresh Produce and The Packer. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in theater, both from Kansas State University.

Holstead’s former students, many who have gone on to become successful journalists and editors of national publications, may have said it best in their numerous letters of support submitted for her nomination for the award.

Marissa Stephenson, 2005 graduate and an editor at Shape magazine, said, “In New York City, I’ll often run into fellow Jayhawk journalists. I think this is in large part due to Carol’s work placing students in NYC internships that led to crucial contacts and full-time positions."

John Rockhold, 2000 graduate and managing editor of Mother Earth News, said, “Carol has had a profound influence on my development as a writer and editor. Under her instruction, I grew from an ambitious but clueless student to a sharp, confident and capable job candidate. These days, I look first to Carol’s students for candidates for internships and full-time jobs.”

In nominating Holstead for this award, Journalism Professor and 2007-08 Budig Teaching Professor of Writing recipient Ted Frederickson wrote: "Carol has been amazingly successful as a virtual one-person program in magazine journalism—a medium whose niche focus has helped it survive both in print and online at a time when broader mass circulation media are disappearing. She has taught students interested in magazine careers how to write, edit, design and even invent magazines for specialized audiences. I can personally attest to her success in teaching good writing, since many of her students have enrolled in my Newspaper Reporting class, which supplies the staff reporters for The Kansan, and my Depth Reporting class, which has produced many winners in the Hearst Journalism Awards competition. I am thrilled to get Carol’s students in my classes because they always arrive with the unique skills that make magazine journalism so effective and interesting—stories alive with descriptive detail, written with an empathetic voice, based on serious fact-gathering and edited to hook readers and keep them reading to the end.”

The namesake of the award, Dr. Gene Budig, was named KU's 14th chancellor in 1981. During his 13-year tenure, more than 180 faculty positions were established. He was an active fund-raiser during Campaign Kansas, the 1987-92 campaign that raised $265 million from private donors. Budig Hall is named in his honor. He left the university to become president of baseball's American League and now is senior adviser to Major League Baseball. He also is the senior presidential advisor for the College Board and recently authored a book on the nine most interesting public people with whom he's worked. He and his wife Gretchen live in Isle of Palms, S.C.

“We are very grateful to Dr. Budig for his generous support of the School of Journalism,” Dean Brill said. “Throughout his distinguished career Dr. Budig has been dedicated to excellence in education. We are very appreciative.”

For more information, please contact Jennifer Kinnard, Communications Coordinator for the KU School of Journalism, at jkinnard@ku.edu or 785-864-7644.

Link to Holstead's J-School bio.