Amy Reynolds, Ph.D. - Dean

Amy Reynolds, Ph.D., is the Dean of the College of Communication and Information (CCI) at Kent State University.  With its five schools - Communication Studies, Emerging Media and Technology, Information, Media and Journalism and Visual Communication Design – CCI consistently delivers high-quality education that responds to the needs of today’s dynamic information economy.

Previously, Reynolds was associate dean for graduate studies and research and the director of the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. She managed all aspects of the center and provided oversight of its research facilities. She also co-directed the Press Law & Democracy Project and served as the Thomas O. and Darlene Ryder II Distinguished Professor.

From 2006 to 2009, she was associate dean for research and graduate studies and director of the IU School of Journalism National Teaching Fellows Workshop at Indiana University.  In addition to serving on the Indiana University faculty for a decade, she also has held faculty positions at the University of Oklahoma and Miami University of Ohio.

The focus of Reynolds’ research is on dissent and the First Amendment, First Amendment history and media sociology, particularly in relationship to media coverage of breaking news and terrorism. She has authored or co-authored seven books, including the popular textbook The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Prior to her career in higher education, Reynolds worked at various news organizations, including Erie Daily Times and WSEE-TV in Erie, Pennsylvania; Orlando Sentinel, College Press Service and Generation X Press in Orlando, Florida; and WTIU Public Television in Bloomington, Indiana. Positions she held include reporter, producer, managing editor and news director.

Reynolds received her bachelor’s degree in English writing from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, her master’s degree in journalism from Indiana University Bloomington and her Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Texas at Austin.