FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2006
Media Contacts: Micki Leventhal, 312-344-7383, mleventhal@colum.edu or
Priscilla Hunter, 312-344-7805, phunter@colum.edu
NOTE: Digital photo of Linda Johnson Rice is available.
CHICAGO, IL - Business and civic leader Linda Johnson Rice, president and chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing Company, will be honored for her contributions to journalism, the publishing industry and American Culture on Sunday, May 14, when Columbia College Chicago on her the title, Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa.
Rice will receive her doctoral hood and degree during afternoon commencement for Columbia's School of Media Arts. Ceremonies are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine. Rice will address the assembled graduates and their families after being introduced by Columbia Trustee Lerone Bennett, executive editor emeritus of Ebony magazine.
"For decades, Columbia College has remained an educational frontrunner with nationally recognized undergraduate and graduate journalism programs," say Johnson Rice. "Its graduates are talented and ready to tackle the challenges this industry brings. To receive an honorary doctorate degree is certainly a privilege. To receive an honorary doctorate degree from Columbia College, I consider an honor. I am also looking forward to sharing this special day with the most important honorees, the graduates.
"There is no one in publishing more deserving of this recognition," says Dr. Warrick L. Carter, president of Columbia. "Ms. Johnson Rice has done an outstanding job guiding and growing Johnson Publishing and the company's other business interests. Johnson Publishing is a national treasure that continues to be a strong and singular voice on behalf of the African American community.
"In an age of tumultuous media transformation, Linda Johnson Rice has a national reputation for maintaining the high ethical and professional standards of Johnson Publishing, and taking them to a new level," says Doreen Bartoni, dean of Columbia's school of media arts. "In her creative management, and her civic engagement, she is truly one of the key players of our Information Age. Our students are fortunate to have this opportunity to hear from her.
Columbia College Chicago, an urban institution committed to open access, opportunity and excellence in higher education, provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to nearly 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Founded in 1890 as a communications school for women, Columbia College Chicago was revisioned in 1963 as a liberal arts college with a "hands-on minds-on" approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Under the current leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D. Columbia is aggressively pursuing this mission. Through the diversity of its students and graduates, the school brings a rich vision and multiplicity of voices to American culture. For further information visit www.colum.edu.
Biography of Linda Johnson Rice
Linda Johnson Rice is President and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc., publishers of EBONY and JET magazines, and the number one African-American publishing company in the world. Rice oversees the corporation's domestic and international business operations, which include Fashion Fair Cosmetics, the Johnson Publishing Company Book Division, and EBONY Fashion Fair. Prior to becoming CEO in 2002, she served as President and Chief Operating Officer, Vice President and Special Assistant to the Publisher, Vice President and fashion coordinator for EBONY magazine, and fashion coordinator for EBONY Fashion Fair. She has received the Robie Award for Achievement in Industry from the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Trumpet Award from Turner Broadcasting, the Alumni Merit Award from the University of Southern California, and the Alumni of the Year Award from Kellogg Graduate School of Management's Black Management Association of Northwestern University and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Equal Justice Award. Rice has addressed numerous business, civic, professional, community and cultural groups, as well as dignitaries from the U.S. and foreign countries. Rice participated in President William Jefferson Clinton's Economic Summit, and served as a member of the United States Presidential Delegation to the Inauguration of His Excellency Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa. She serves on the Board of Directors of Bausch & Lomb, Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corp., MoneyGram International, Inc., and Omnicom Group, Inc. She is a member of the Magazine Publishers Association, the Advisory Council of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture, Board of Trustees of The Art Institute of Chicago, The Women's Board of the Art Institute of Chicago, Board of Directors of the United Negro College Fund, University of Southern California and Northwestern Memorial Corporation. She is the member of several organizations including the National Association of Black Journalists and the Young Presidents Organization. Rice holds a Bachelor of Art degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California and a Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.