NEWS RELEASE, 6/6/96 Distinguished journalist Orville Schell appointed new dean of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism

by Kathleen Scalise

Berkeley -- Award winning author Orville H. Schell will assume leadership of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley Aug. 15. An expert on China, Schell has written seven books on the region, produced documentary films, and has been a correspondent for The New Yorker magazine and consultant for CBS, NBC and ABC television. He was program consultant for the Emmy-winning CBS 60 Minutes report, "Made in China," and counts several fellowships, including a Guggenheim, among his many awards. In addition to his impressive media credentials, Schell has been a passionate advocate of human rights as vice chairman of Human Rights Watch/Asia. Schell, who makes his home in Bolinas and is a UC Berkeley graduate with an M.A. in Chinese Studies ('67) and a B.A. from Harvard University, sees challenges ahead for the journalism school. "At a time when the craft of journalism and the state of the media are being shaped by so many new commercial pressures and undergoing so many rapid changes, the challenges are great," he said. But even in the face of shifting markets and new technologies, the school "must make sure that students graduate not only with a sense of the crucial role journalism plays in the public dialogue, but with an appreciation of what constitutes truly fine writing and excellent radio and television reporting and documentary film making," he said. Schell, 56, will replace Tom Goldstein, who has been dean of the school since 1988 and who will resume faculty duties when he returns from a sabbatical. "I am very pleased to have Orville Schell succeed me as the fourth dean of the Graduate School of Journalism," said Goldstein. "Orville is a journalist with a keen conscience, compelling ideas, high energy and unmatched experience in this country and in Asia. He has written magnificent magazine articles and books and has worked on top-flight television documentaries. To know that this highly gifted journalist will lead this school into the next century gives me immense satisfaction." In his years as dean, Goldstein's "most remarkable and obvious achievement was in terms of physical space," said Journalism Professor William Drummond, who was associate dean when Goldstein first became dean. "Tom oversaw and raised the money for seismic retrofit and restoration of North Gate Hall." Drummond also cited Goldstein's contributions in developing the C. K. McClatchy Wing, the Felker Magazine Center and the move of the television program from Dwinelle Hall to North Gate Hall, where it has "successfully bonded with the rest of the program," said Drummond. Such achievements would not have been possible, said Associate Dean Thomas Leonard, but for Goldstein's "determination to work seven days a week and think about the school every working hour."