Janet Hill Keefer, Ph.D.
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Drake University
2805 University Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50311-4505
515-271-3105; 515-271-2798 FAX
email:janet.keefer@drake.edu
DRAKE PROFILE OF JANET KEEFER
Dr. Janet Hill Keefer joined Drake University as the dean of its School of
Journalism and Mass Communication in 1994 after a professional career that
included a stint in CNN¹s Washington Bureau and faculty positions at Penn
State University and The American University in Washington, DC. In 2001,
she stepped down as dean at Drake and took an extended leave to become dean
of the College of Communication Media Sciences at Zayed University, a public
university for women in the United Arab Emirates.
Keefer began her career as a
newspaper reporter in Columbus, Ohio, and later worked as a reporter and
producer for television stations in Ohio and Alabama. She joined the Cable
News Network¹s Washington Bureau in 1981, shortly after the network was
founded.
A native of Tennessee, she holds a doctorate in mass communication
research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research
and teaching interests include journalism, diversity in media, media law and
broadcast policy.