Linda Leavell

An editor with more than 30 years of experience, Linda Leavell began teaching the Writing and Editing Tutorial and Lab as an adjunct professor in the fall of 2012.

Before joining the SMU staff, she worked for The Dallas Morning News, where she was the managing editor of the newspaper’s website. In a separate role, she oversaw newsroom internship opportunities for high school and college students. For five years, she ran the newspaper’s annual journalism competition for Dallas-Fort Worth high schools and planned the corresponding educational conference for up to 500 students and teachers.

Before working at The Dallas Morning News, Leavell ran the Texas news operation for the Associated Press, the world’s largest newsgathering organization. She worked at smaller newspapers earlier in her career and graduated with highest honors from The University of Texas at Austin in 1989.

When she is not teaching at SMU, she puts on journalism workshops for area high schools, is a consultant for DART, and helps high school and college students with their personal essays as part of her own business, The Write Coach.

She is married to the assistant managing editor for sports at The Dallas Morning News and is the mother of two children in their 20s.