CCM E-Media Division Head Marjorie Fox Retires

Electronic Media Division Head Marjorie Fox joined the faculty in 1988. She retires this summer.

CCM Electronic Media Division Head Marjorie Fox has announced that she will retire this June. Fox joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati in 1988 as an adjunct instructor.

After getting her start as a TV reporter in Peoria, Illinois, Fox spent the early part of her career in television with the Chicago NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV, working as a writer, field producer, newscast producer, assignment editor and eventually executive producer.

Although she did not have plans to become a professor initially, Fox became acquainted with longtime E-Media Division Head Manfred Wolfram through their mutual friend the late Henry Meyer, who was himself a distinguished professor of violin at CCM and founding member of the world-renowned LaSalle Quartet.

Fox explains, “I met with Dr. Wolfram and he arranged for me to teach a journalism class as an adjunct and I loved it. I felt that this is what I should be doing.” Fox soon became a visiting assistant professor and was hired for a tenure-track position in 1990.

Both the E-Media industry in general and the E-Media program at CCM in particular underwent significant changes and technological advancements during Fox’s tenure. She also saw CCM’s E-Media faculty nearly double in size through the years.

Fox considers the opening of the revitalized CCM Village in 1999 to be a highlight of her tenure at UC. These extensive renovations expanded the physical size of the entire college and established the state-of-the-art Walter and Marilyn Bartlett Television Production Center, Lawrence A. Leser Newsroom, J. Ralph Corbett Audio Production Center, Judy and Jim Van Cleave Multimedia Laboratory, and Jack and Joan Strader Radio Center, along with countless other enhancements. “Planning the layout of the building was really fun because I have always had an interest in architecture,” Fox says.

Through her years at CCM, Fox has taught courses in journalism, broadcast news writing, E-Media writing, media ethics, and an innovative news production course entitled Uptown.

“Uptown was the name of the course and the name of the news feature program our students did for 20 years. In the 1990s, there were few other production electives so we always had 15 to 20 people enrolled and we would produce six to eight news programs each quarter,” she explains. Many of Fox’s former Uptown students have gone on to careers in television news.

Fox was named head of CCM’s Division of E-Media in January of 2010 and spent much of her time managing the semester conversion. She was also instrumental in the creation of the Minor in E-Media.

“I know I will miss the students, my UC colleagues, being on campus, and having important responsibilities,” Fox says, “but I intend to stay in touch.”