Bob Steele returned to his alma mater in 2008 as the Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism. He also serves as a scholar-in-residence at The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics and as a professor in the Department of Communication and Theatre. He graduated from DePauw in 1969 with a degree in economics, and he received his M.S. in television-radio from Syracuse University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa writing his dissertation on journalism ethics and ethical decision-making. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Journalism from DePauw in 2007 and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Emerson College in 2006.

At DePauw, Dr. Steele will teach courses in journalism ethics; the role of the press in democracy; values and storytelling; and Media Fellows colloquiums. He also serves as an ethics coach for student journalists at The DePauw, WGRE-FM, and D3TV. At the Prindle Institute, he will develop and lead programs on professional ethics and leadership ethics. His research interests focus on the value and values of journalism; ethics in the digital era; and the concept of loyalty and competing loyalties.

From 1989 to 2008, Dr. Steele was a faculty member with The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, FL, known for professional training of journalists and media leaders across the country and around the world. He directed the institute’s ethics program and he was the Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values. In addition to teaching thousands of journalists and media leaders in Poynter seminars, he led sessions on ethics, leadership values and critical thinking for nearly 100 news organizations nationwide, including newspapers, television stations and networks, and print and broadcast companies. He frequently advised journalists and editors on real-time ethics challenges, and he was on the receiving end of thousands of interviews by reporters writing about journalism ethics issues.

Dr. Steele wrote dozens of articles and essays for Poynter Online over the years, and he has written articles, case studies and handbooks for The American Society of Newspaper Editors, The Radio-Television News Directors Association, The Society of Professional Journalists and other professional organizations. He was the co-author of three editions of Doing Ethics in Journalism: A Handbook with Case Studies, published by the Society of Professional Journalists, and he authored chapters in other books on journalism.

His professional background includes ten years as a local television reporter, executive news producer and news director in Maine and Iowa. He also hosted a program on media analysis for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. From 1984-1989, he taught journalism ethics, media law and reporting at the University of Maine. He also served in the US Army from 1969 to 1972, graduating from the Infantry Officers Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He spent ten months in Vietnam as a Signal Corps officer where he received a Bronze Star for Meritorious Achievement.

Bob’s wife, Dr. Carol Steele, is an associate dean for academic affairs at DePauw. They are the parents of three adult daughters, who live in Denver, Phoenix and Portland, Maine, and the grandparents to one quite wonderful lad named Henry Ellis Nelson who lives with his parents in Denver.