Kevin Klose, president emeritus of NPR and president of the NPR Foundation, has been named dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
His appointment is effective April 13. He comes at a time of transition for the journalism school as it re-vamps its curriculum to include more focus on digital and multimedia reporting, according to the campus newspaper “The Diamondback.” A new journalism building is under construction.
Klose began his reporting career at the Washington Post in 1967. Klose served as president of NPR from December of 1998 to September of 2008 during a period when NPR’s budget tripled to more than $160 million annually. He raised more than $400 million in grants and gifts from foundations and individual givers, including the $230 million bequest from the late Joan Kroc, according to NPR. Klose was named president emeritus of NPR and president of the NPR Foundation when his contract expired in September 2008. A spokeswoman told Radio World his official position with the foundation ends in March when he leaves to take the Maryland job.