Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Philadelphia Inquirer editor Hank Klibanoff will join Emory's faculty in the fall as a James M. Cox Jr. Professor of Journalism.

His selection represents the culmination of a national search by a committee of Emory faculty that included a representative from the Cox foundation.

"What Klibanoff will bring to the Journalism program is an intimate knowledge of how journalism works on the ground, and how the profession is evolving in the face of technological and financial challenges," Michael Elliott, senior associate dean for faculty in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel. "I think everyone has been particularly impressed with his desire to engage students around the ethical questions that journalists face, questions that are also changing because of the digital revolution in publishing."

The Cox chair, however, will not be Klibanoff's first foray into the classroom. In addition to winning the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in history for the book he co-authored, "The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakeningof a Nation," and working as a reporter and editor for about 35 years, Klibanoff served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania for six years where he taught a class on urban journalism.

For his part, Klibanoff says he is looking forward to returning to the classroom this fall.

"There are so many things about the business of journalism that are important to discuss at the university level," Klibanoff said in an interview with the Wheel.

Klibanoff will begin his two-year tenure as a Cox Professor by teaching Journalism History and Ethics and Magazine Writing next semester. He said he plans to stress the importance of journalistic integrity in his courses.

"I hope students, whether they are interested in going into journalism or not, will come away with what standards they should uphold as journalists and as news consumers," Klibanoff said.

He added that he wants to be involved with campus-wide programming by organizing seminars and conferences for professionals to speak about the issues facing journalism and society today. Because Klibanoff's academic interests include not only journalism but also subjects such as history and race relations, he expressed his desire to collaborate with other departments at Emory to create interdisciplinary courses and programs.

The position of Cox professor in journalism was created by a 1.35 million dollar endowment in 1995 from the James M. Cox. Jr. Foundation. The most recent previous holder of the Cox chair was former New York Times reporter Isabel Wilkerson, the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.

— Contact Molly Davis.