For Immediate Release
November 21, 2005
Photo of Brownlee available digitally.
Chicago, IL --Famed Chicago journalist Les Brownlee (90) died during the early morning hours of November 21 after a long battle with cancer. Priscilla MacDougall, his wife of many years, was by his side.
As a journalism professor at Columbia College Chicago, Brownlee's focus was Urban Affairs reporting, though he taught across the curriculum.
Colleague Jim Sulski noted that "Brownlee was a amazing teacher, inspiring more than one generation of journalists --ranging from John Kass at the Chicago Tribune to Anita Padilla at NBC-TV." Sulski himself was a student of Brownlee's at Columbia. He is a full-time professor at the arts and media college and serves as adviser to the award winning student newspaper, The Columbia Chronicle.
In 2002, Brownlee was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Chicago Headline Club, a chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brownlee was the first African American inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists and was honored, along with six other Chicago newspeople, for their contributions to local media.
Brownlee retired on July 1, 2004 and was named Professor Emeritus in a ceremony on October 16 of that year. Columbia President Warrick L. Carter praised him as a "pioneering journalist who broke barriers in previously segregated newsrooms and in organizations such as the Society of Professional Journalists.
"Les was an outstanding journalist and a caring and committed teacher who inspired his students with his passion and his ethics," said Carter. "He helped shape the vision of a generation of Columbia students and his contributions will continue to effect journalism for years to come."
During his more than a half-century as a professional journalist, Brownlee worked in newsrooms at the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Defender, WLS-TV, WGN-TV and WBEZ radio. He was the first African-American reporter for the Daily News and the first on-air black reporter for WLS. He was entered into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 1993.
Media contact: Micki Leventhal, 312.344.7383, mleventhal@colum.edu