Thor Wasbotten
Biography
Thor Wasbotten has more than two decades of leadership experience in higher education and in industry. He is a professor in the School of Media and Journalism.
He holds an appointment at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, the country's most comprehensive applied ethics center. He also has an engagement as professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University of China.
He served as director of Community Engagement in the College of Communication and Information. Prior to that, he served as the director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State and as assistant dean in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State University.
In industry, he served as news director of the ABC-television affiliate in Tucson, Arizona, and as station manager and founding news director at the FOX-television affiliate in Boise, Idaho. He is a past president of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Education
University of Southern California, BA in Broadcast Journalism
Publications
- “Because I am White, My Privilege Allows Me to be Silent – But Virtue Ethics Does Not,” perspective piece included in “Ethics Spotlight: Ethics and Systemic Racism,” Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, September 2020
Affiliations
- Radio Television Digital News Association
- Association for Education in Journalism and Communication
- Broadcast Education Association
Awards/Achievements
- Recipient, 2019 Leadership Award from the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication