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A note from our chief university and foundation relations officer
In the winter of 2014 I was running the higher education group for NBC Learn in New York. One morning, the general manager told me she had met an Australian woman at an event whose husband was involved in a media company that had university professors writing articles for the public.
Curious, I started searching the internet, and after first seeing a result for the Gene Hackman movie “The Conversation,” I found it. The lead story on the website was from a professor at the University of Michigan. I couldn’t believe this idea existed and I didn’t know about it – especially after having spent 20 years at The Chronicle of Higher Education. I saw it was only available in Australia, where the idea originated, and the U.K.
Right then I knew I had to help make this happen in the U.S. I emailed the founder, Andrew Jaspan, and the editor, Misha Ketchell (who is still leading the editorial team in Australia). I introduced myself and said I wanted to help them launch here in the U.S. Six months later, it became a reality! The Conversation U.S. opened its doors in the basement of a Boston University building thanks to the generosity of Tom Fiedler, then the dean of Boston University’s College of Communication.
We were fortunate to have six major foundations contribute grants totaling $2.2 million for two years to get this off the ground – and boy did we ever.
Ten years ago today, on Oct. 21, 2014, we published our first articles. One of those articles, written by Daina Berry, now a dean at UC Santa Barbara, was read over 60,000 times on the first day. I knew right then this was going to be a major success!
None of this would have happened without the help of a few of the Australian and U.K. editors who spent six weeks getting us up and running. Then a small team of editors here in the U.S. helped lead the way to what is now 24 experienced journalist-editors, with executive editor and general manager Beth Daley at the helm.
Ten years have flown by, and we still have much to accomplish. When you realize that we have over 90 participating college and university members, numerous supporting foundations, a steady stream of individual donors and hundreds of the most demographically diverse media outlets republishing our work in every corner of the U.S., it is clear that we are here to stay. Our articles don’t tell people what to think but give them knowledge-based journalism to make informed decisions in their lives – and to satisfy their curiosity.
Compared to when we first started, we have far more opportunity to become one of the most important media organizations not only in the U.S., but globally. There has never been a time when our model of leveraging academic expertise for the public good has been more important. I am so proud to be a part of this mission-driven media organization and can’t wait for the next 10 years!
Happy 10th anniversary to our incredible staff, a very engaged and accomplished board and, most importantly – you, our readers!
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