Edward J. Sylvester, 72, passed away November 7, 2014. He was an award-winning journalist who taught at ASU for more than 30 years. He joined ASU in 1980 in what was then the Department of Mass Communication and later became the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He played an integral role in the school’s development, leading the charge in science journalism education and teaching a wide variety of news reporting and editing courses. “He was instrumental in Cronkite’s rise as one of the nation’s premier professional journalism programs,” said Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan. With former Cronkite School Director Douglas A. Anderson, Sylvester helped craft a successful proposal for one of the first Knight Chairs in Journalism, an endowed professorship currently held by Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Doig who teaches data journalism. “He was among the first journalism educators to teach such a course, starting even before the World Wide Web was invented,” said Doig. Sylvester’s achievements included leading the school’s partnership with the Mayo Clinic, mentoring medical school students pursuing master’s degrees at Cronkite. Sylvester remained active after retiring in 2013, teaching courses online and in the classroom. Conrad J. Storad, a 1983 ASU master’s graduate, said Sylvester was incredibly important in launching his career as an author and executive editor of the nationally acclaimed ASU Research Magazine. “He was a master of the classroom,” said Storad, who was Sylvester’s teaching assistant. “He really was a master teacher and loved being in the classroom with the kids.” (In 2012 Sylvester interviewed Storad for the ASURA Video History Project. The Video History Project was in the process of arranging a time for Storad to interview Sylvester; sadly, that did not happen.) Prior to joining ASU, Sylvester was a reporter and editor for more than a decade at newspapers, including the LA Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Arizona Daily Star. He secured numerous journalism honors, including a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing in 1977 for an Arizona Daily Star story on the Tohono O'odham Nation. Sylvester was the author of five books on medical research and biosecurity as well as numerous academic journal articles. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction in 1983 for “The Gene Age” and in 1986 for “Target: Cancer.” He served in the U.S. Army as an information specialist for the 24th Infantry Division in Augsburg, Germany from 1965-1967. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1965 from Princeton University and a master’s degree in 1974 from the City College of New York where he was a member of Joseph Heller’s famed fiction workshop. He is survived by his wife, Ginny, a son, a daughter and three grandchildren. A celebration will be held at the University Club on the ASU Tempe campus Saturday, November 15, 2014 from 3-5 p.m. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the name of Edward J. Sylvester to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in support of science journalism scholarship. 

(Source: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication)