Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Joins UA Journalism Faculty

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Rick Bragg will join The University of Alabama journalism department in the College of Communication and Information Sciences as a professor of writing.

Bragg, a native of Piedmont, Ala., has worked as a reporter for the Anniston Star, the Birmingham News, the St. Petersburg Times, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Bragg was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 in feature writing for his “elegantly written stories about contemporary America.” He is a recipient of the Clarence Cason Award for Nonfiction Writing, a nationally distinguished prize that is presented annually by the UA journalism department.

“Rick Bragg is a genius,” said Dr. Culpepper Clark, dean of the College of Communication and Information Sciences and acting chair of journalism. “His reporting informs and illuminates as few in the business. His prose is compassionate and powerful. Young reporters and aspiring writers will flock to his classes. Any who have heard Rick Bragg on the lecture circuit know he will be a master teacher.”

“I love teaching and to get to do it at The University of Alabama is a great honor,” Bragg said. “I don’t have any illusions – it’ll be hard work, but I’m really looking forward to it and think it will be lots of fun. It’s a great blessing.”

Bragg’s best-selling memoir, “All Over but the Shoutin’,” recounts his days growing up poor in rural Alabama. His other books include “Ava’s Man,” “Somebody Told Me” and “I’m a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story.”

The UA College of Communication & Information Sciences is among the largest and most prestigious communication colleges in the nation. Its flagship doctoral program was recently ranked 7th in the nation by the National Communication Association, the largest association of communication scholars. It has been ranked as high as 6th in research productivity and 2nd in the number of doctoral degrees awarded. Its journalism department recently launched the nation’s first master’s program in community journalism in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Anniston Star.