Wayne Wanta, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Journalism professor and former Journalism Department chair, retired at the end of 2023 after a 12-year tenure at the College. Wanta will pursue a Fulbright Scholar Award at the University of Wroclaw in Poland and write a book on international sports.

Wanta joined UFCJC in 2011 and served as department chair from June 2011 to August 2014. He is internationally known for his research on political communication and media effects, with 200 refereed publications and convention papers. He has lectured and delivered research presentations in 50 different countries. He also has authored or co-authored eight books.

Wanta was a UF Preeminence Term Professor from fall 2018 to fall 2021 and a UF Research Foundation Professor from spring 2015 to spring 2018. His research examines the agenda-setting function of the news media – how news coverage influences the public’s perceptions of issues and newsmakers. He has also conducted research in sports journalism, visual communication, internet use and effects, and negative political advertising.

He also has played an important leadership role in journalism education, having served as the president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) from 2006-2007 while at the University of Missouri. He was a delegate for two meetings of the World Journalism Education Congress, in which 30 organizations from around the world agreed upon a series of journalistic principles. In 1994, while at Missouri, he won AEJMC’s prestigious Hillier Krieghbaum Under-40 Award for outstanding achievement in research, teaching and service. He also has served on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications and was twice elected to the AEJMC Teaching Standards Committee.

Before entering academia, Wanta worked for eight years at several newspapers, including the Dallas Times Herald, Austin American-Statesman, Albuquerque Journal, Charleston (S.C.) Post Courier and Wisconsin State Journal, as a sportswriter, feature writer and page designer. He previously taught at Oklahoma State University, the University of Missouri, University of Oregon and Southern Illinois University.

Posted: December 13, 2023
Category: College News
Tagged as: AEJMC, Fulbright Scholar Award, Journalism, UF Preeminence Term Professor, UF Research Foundation Professor, Wayne Wanta