• Academics 
  • 
  • Academics
  • 
  • Arts
  • Business
  • Education & Human Development
  • Engineering
  • Humanities & Sciences
  • Law
  • Theology
  • Centers & Institutes
  • Continuing Education
  • Libraries
  • Plano Campus
  • Provost
  • Research & Graduate Studies
  • Summer School
  • Taos Campus
  • Access.SMU
  • Blackboard
  • Webmail
• Quick Links 
  • 
  • Quick Links
  • 
  • Administration
  • Admission
  • Athletics
  • Calendars
  • Community and Economic Impact Report
  • Email Search
  • Employment
  • Financial Aid
  • Giving
  • Information Technology Services
  • International Center
  • Libraries
  • Maps
  • Meadows Museum
  • Registrar
  • Bursar
  • Student Affairs
  • Webmail
  • A-Z Site Index

Media Contact:
Victoria Winkelman
Tele. 214-768-3785

May 17, 2007

Mark Vamos Appointed William J. O’Neil Chair In Business Journalism At SMU’s Meadows School Of The Arts

DALLAS (SMU) -- Mark Vamos, editor-in-chief of the national business magazine Fast Company and a former senior editor of both Newsweek and BusinessWeek, has been appointed the William J. O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism and senior lecturer at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He will start in August with the beginning of the fall term.

Mark Vamos

At SMU, Vamos will teach business journalism and media management and will coordinate the new business journalism program in the Meadows School Division of Journalism with new business and financial reporting programs at the Cox School of Business. He also will coordinate the ongoing William J. O’Neil Lecture Series in Business Journalism, a program that each semester brings outstanding business journalism professionals to the SMU campus.

In making the announcement, Meadows School Dean José Bowen said, “Mark Vamos is a wonderful addition to our faculty. He brings a wealth of real-world experience and he exemplifies how collaboration between Meadows and Cox will allow both of us to lead in new areas. Business Journalism is just what it sounds like: students will take courses in both Meadows and Cox and will leave SMU with the professional skills of both.”

“We are thrilled to have a professional of Mark Vamos’s caliber as the first O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism,” said Tony Pederson, the Belo Distinguished Chair of the Division of Journalism at the Meadows School. “It is clear just from recent news events that business and financial journalism is growing in importance, and globalization and converging media will only heighten this trend in coming years.”  

Vamos joined Fast Company in 2003 and served as executive editor for two years before becoming editor-in-chief. He oversaw the redesign and re-launch of the innovative business monthly, which has a circulation of 725,000; set editorial strategy; oversaw a staff of 25; and made numerous media appearances and gave talks before civic, academic and industry groups.

Prior to joining Fast Company, Vamos was an adjunct professor for a year at New York University, where he taught introductory reporting and writing to undergraduates and was invited to return as an adjunct in the graduate school of journalism.

From 1999-2002, Vamos served as deputy editor and then editor-in-chief of SmartMoney.com, running all of the editorial operations of the National Magazine Award-winning website, which focuses on real-time market news, investing and personal finance.

From 1997-99, Vamos was senior editor of Newsweek, where he directed the magazine’s coverage of business and personal finance and supervised an award-winning staff that included Alan Sloan, Jane Bryant Quinn and Robert Samuelson.

Prior to joining Newsweek, Vamos spent 13 years at Business Week, where he held various positions in editing, reporting and writing. He served as senior editor from 1990-1997, managing core corporate coverage, directing the Business Week/Harris Poll and overseeing coverage of the first Gulf War.

Vamos earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1976 and an M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in 1983, where he was a Robert E. Sherwood Scholar.

The establishment of the William J. O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism is part of a new cooperative program in financial reporting developed by the Meadows School Division of Journalism and the Cox School of Business at SMU, through funding from William J. O’Neil, an SMU alumnus and chairman and CEO of Investor’s Business Daily.

“Mark Vamos is a highly experienced business journalist with an outstanding background, and he is a major addition to the Division of Journalism and the emphasis in business journalism,” said O’Neil. “I believe the program will be off to an excellent start.”

The Cox School will establish the William J. O’Neil Center for Business and Financial Reporting and the William J. O’Neil Chair in Business and Financial Reporting, and will develop a new B.B.A. major in business and financial reporting with a strong emphasis on finance and accounting. The Meadows Division of Journalism will offer a concentration in business journalism for journalism students, as well as journalism courses for business students. It also will sponsor guest lectures in business journalism and scholarships for journalism students.

- 30 -

06168-nr-05/17/2007-vw