EDITORIAL: Remembering CMU's 'father of journalism'
Last Monday, the world lost one of Central Michigan University's greatest advocates for journalism.
Dr. Gilbert Maienknecht, a staple at the university since the '40s, died on Feb. 3.
Arriving as the director of publicity in 1948, Maienknecht was the foundation of journalism at CMU, and his passing has caused all of us in the program to reflect on all we might have never accomplished without him.
Although the journalism department is now housed in Moore Hall, with several computer labs, classrooms, a full newsroom and advertising firm for student publications, and award-winning faculty, journalism at CMU had more humble beginnings.
In what was originally a WWII barracks, the program shared one typewriter for the entire department, its information services, the student newspaper, the yearbook and the university's photo services.
By 1959, Maienknecht was named the founding chairman of the journalism department, expanding the program to 320 majors, 180 minors and 10 faculty members.
After more than 30 years at CMU, he retired in 1982.
During Maienknecht's tenure at the university, he received myriad journalism awards, but perhaps his most crowning achievement was serving as the inaugural inductee to the Journalism Hall of Fame in 2002 – an honor that coined him “the father of journalism” at CMU.
He was a mentor to many, a friend to those who shared his interest in journalistic excellence and a valued colleague to those who tried to engender a deep love for journalistic pursuits.
Maienknecht was one of the most important men the department of journalism has ever had the honor of claiming as one of its own.
We not only lost our creator, but a long-standing philosophical guide for the future of the department – a future that we contemplate daily as the landscape of our field changes with tides of technology and culture.
It is with great sorrow that we mourn the loss of one of CMU journalism’s greatest assets, and is with great appreciation that we look back on the multitude of success stories that one man set in motion.
