Williams, Walter

In 1908, Walter Williams became the founding dean of the Missouri School of Journalism. Williams' career in journalism began in his hometown of Boonville, Mo., where at an early age he was a printer's devil (apprentice) for the Boonville Topic. He came to Columbia in 1889 to work for E.W. Stephens' Columbia Herald, where Williams gained a national reputation for turning the paper into what the trade press called, "America's model weekly." 1

A common sign of the times, Williams did not possess a college degree. Instead, he learned the publishing trade through hands-on experience, as most reporters and editors did at that time. Williams, however, fully supported the idea of a school of journalism at the University of Missouri that was championed by the Missouri Press Association as early as the 1870s. Critics of the idea scoffed, claiming that reporters and editors only could be trained in the printing office.

After much debate, the University's Board of Curators assigned a committee, which included Williams' boss, E.W. Stephens, to outline a journalism curriculum in 1898. Attempts to fund it, though, were repeatedly denied until 1906 when Williams, then a curator himself, led a committee that proposed that a school of journalism be established "as a Department of the University, co-ordinate in rank with the Departments of Law, Medicine and other Professional Schools." The curriculum was finally funded in 1908, and the School opened its doors on Sept. 14, 1908. Still a believer in hands-on training, however, Williams also established the University Missourian (now the Columbia Missourian), a community newspaper that served as the training lab for young reporters. The first edition of the paper was published on the first day of school.

The success of Williams' school of journalism elevated the reputation he had established as a young country editor. Williams had jumped onto the global scene in 1902 when he traveled to 27 nations on four continents to publicize the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair to the international press. After founding the School, Williams continued to travel around the globe, serving as a relentless publicist for both the School and the profession of journalism. He enjoyed profound respect at home and abroad, and as a result, Williams was the Board of Curators' unanimous choice to lead the University of Missouri as president during the Depression. Williams served dual roles of president and dean until his death in 1935, leaving behind the legacy of journalism education that would shape the future of the profession.

- biography courtesy of University of Missouri