A longtime Wartburg College journalism professor was recently appointed to the R.J. McElroy Chair in Communication.

Pamela Ohrt, associate professor of journalism and communication, has served the Wartburg community for 16 years and is a tenured member of faculty. She is faculty adviser for KWAR, the campus radio station, and is co-coordinator of the IS 101 program, a term-long course and first-year orientation requirement focused on interdisciplinary and liberal arts studies.

“I am honored and excited to have been selected to serve in this prestigious position, particularly as it relates to nurturing students for leadership roles in the field of journalism and communication,” said Ohrt.

Ohrt earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism and Spanish from Iowa State University and a Master of Arts in communication studies from the University of Northern Iowa. Her background includes 27 years of media experience in radio and newspapers. Ohrt was news director of KOEL-AM and FM radio and editor of the Oelwein Daily Register. Prior to joining the Wartburg faculty full time, Ohrt had 13 years of experience in teaching college courses, including composition, news reporting, editing and feature writing.

“We are so very grateful to our friends from the McElroy Trust for their continued support of our students,” said Penni Pier, Grant L. Price Chair in Journalism & Communication. “Gifts such as the McElroy Chair allow a faculty member to create and execute experiences for our students that would be difficult within the confines of our normal budgetary operations. I am confident that Professor Ohrt will faithfully and enthusiastically provide supplemental activities that allow our students to fully explore the field of communication and all that it entails. I have no doubt that Professor Ohrt has some wonderful ideas in mind for our students, and I look forward to working with her to bring them to fruition.”

Concurrent with her work at Wartburg, Ohrt is executive director of the Iowa College Media Association and a member of the National College Media Association, Broadcast Education Association and Iowa Broadcast News Association. At the 2019 Iowa Broadcast News Association convention, she was honored with the Shelley Award, the highest honor given to Iowa journalists.

“Although the Wartburg Department of Journalism & Communication is heavily dependent upon technology, with limited budget funding, my focus for administering these funds will be primarily on the Wartburg students,” said Ohrt. “I plan to solicit applications for the R.J. McElroy Student Research Fund, in which students could submit proposals for undergraduate research projects, bringing them individual recognition beyond the awards that Wartburg student media achieves. I also plan to allocate a portion of the funding to assist students with attending conferences and professional development, which is perhaps beyond their financial means.”

R.J. McElroy founded Black Hawk Broadcasting Company, which first operated radio station KWWL, then KWWL-TV and later several other radio and television stations. When McElroy died in 1965, a provision in his will established the R.J. McElroy Trust. The Trust funded Wartburg’s first endowed chair in 1981 and renovation of the former fine arts building into the McElroy Communication Arts Center. It also has supported the Vogel Library, Wartburg Science Center, Walter Cunningham Memorial Teacher Preparation Project, student research and student scholarships.

A public event to recognize Ohrt will be deferred until the campus community can gather in accordance with COVID-19 safety guidelines. However, personal notes of congratulations can be sent via email to pamela.ohrt@wartburg.edu.