Biography
Suzanne McBride, a professor of Journalism and dean of the School of Graduate Studies, has worked as a journalist for more than three decades, serving as a top newspaper editor and reporter before joining Columbia in 2005. With grant support, she has launched two local news web sites - ChicagoTalks and AustinTalks - which have been honored by the country’s leading journalism organizations and featured the work of hundreds of Columbia students. Suzanne has been invited to speak at dozens of conferences across the United States, Canada and Europe; she traveled to Fiji in 2023 and Thailand in 2009 as a specialist for the U.S. Department of State and conducted virtual training in 2021 with journalists and government officials in Kuwait. She was named a Fulbright Scholar in Ireland, where she researched online journalism and taught local news reporting at the Dublin Institute of Technology in 2012. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Iowa and earned a master’s degree with distinction from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Suzanne is as an editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and also writes for its Editorial Board. Before joining Columbia's faculty, Suzanne worked at The Indianapolis Star and News, the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette and WTHR/Channel 13 in Indianapolis. She serves on the board of the Chicago chapter of the Fulbright Association.
Instructional Areas
Investigative reporting, political reporting, community news
Creative Practice and Research Interests
Local online news publishing
Degrees
B.A., Journalism and Mass Communication University of Iowa 1989
M.S., Journalism Northwestern University 1991