Kathleen Culver

Notable work and positions

School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison - Director (2023-present); James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics
Center for Journalism Ethics, UW-Madison - Director (2016-present)
Milwaukee Sentinel; Kankakee Daily Journal - Former Reporter

Biography

Kathleen Bartzen Culver (also known as Katy Culver) is the 14th director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a role she assumed in July 2023. She holds a bachelor's degree, master's degree and Ph.D. from UW-Madison's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where she joined the faculty in 1999 to help launch a converged media curriculum. She began her career as a reporter at the Milwaukee Sentinel, covering crime, state news and general assignments, and at the Kankakee Daily Journal in Illinois. She holds the James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics, named for the endowment established by former Wisconsin State Journal publisher James Burgess, and was named director of the Center for Journalism Ethics in 2016, succeeding Robert Drechsel. Her research addresses the ethical dimensions of digital media, including drones, sensors and virtual reality in journalism, and First Amendment and free speech issues in campus and newsroom settings. She also serves as visiting faculty for the Poynter Institute and was founding editor of PBS MediaShift's education section. She has won the Scripps Foundation Journalism and Mass Communication Educator of the Year Award (2021) and the UW-Madison William H. Kiekhofer Distinguished Teaching Award (2020).