Newspaper vet joins faculty

Doug Cumming, a veteran newspaper journalist and former Nieman Fellow, will join the Journalism Department of Washington and Lee University in the fall.  

Cumming, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, now teaches at Loyola University in New Orleans.

He also holds a master’s in American civilization from Brown University and a B.A. in literature from Bennington College.   

Cumming’s journalism career included 10 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 13 years at the Providence (R.I.) Journal-Bulletin.  In addition to holding many reporting and writing positions, Cumming served as editor of the Journal-Bulletin’s Sunday magazine and helped Time-Warner launch a monthly magazine called Southpoint. 

In 1986-1987, he was selected as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, a prestigious fellowship for mid-career journalists.  

Cumming’s dissertation topic was on efforts to inform the South after Brown v. Board  of Education.   

Cumming will replace as a faculty member Hampden H. Smith, who begins phased retirement.  Brian Richardson, who has been on the W&L faculty since 1990, will replace Smith as department head in January 2004.