Award-winning science journalist and author K.C. Cole will join the USC Annenberg faculty as a visiting professor of journalism in January 2006, the School announced Friday, October 28, 2005.

Cole’s appointment to the USC Annenberg faculty is part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education, which seeks to strengthen journalism education across the country and elevate its role within the research university.

"The essence of science journalism – like science itself – is learning how to avoid getting fooled – or fooling yourself – so it's inseparable from the rest of journalism; in fact, science itself is a part of nearly every story, whether it's politics, crime, religion or the arts," says Cole. "As USC is the most vigorously interdisciplinary university I know, it's the perfect place to explore and exploit these connections-both at the journalism school and the university at large."

At USC, Cole will help develop a new specialized graduate journalism degree program focusing on science and technology, drawing on a broad range of academic expertise offered by a variety of USC academic units, including the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Viterbi School of Engineering.

"Good journalism requires greater in-depth reporting and journalism education needs to help reporters with not only the skills but the knowledge they must have to pursue complex stories," said Michael Parks, director of USC Annenberg's School of Journalism. "Science and technology is an area of intense interest and importance today. With her credentials as a science writer of national repute as well as an experienced teacher, we are delighted K.C. Cole is joining USC Annenberg to launch this program."

"Journalism is central to the public's understanding of a broad range of issues facing society," said Geoffrey Cowan, dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. "The Carnegie-Knight Initiative is helping strengthen journalism education to prepare the next generation with the specialized knowledge they will need to serve their readers and viewers. Our partnership with Harvard, Berkeley, Northwestern, and Columbia will continue to provide a model for effective interdisciplinary initiatives that connect journalism instruction with other important fields of study."

Cole has been a science writer and columnist for the Los Angeles Times since 1994. She is the author of seven nonfiction books, most recently Mind Over Matter: Conversations with the Cosmos (Harcourt 2003). Her articles, which have been featured in The Best American Science Writing 2004 and 2005 and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002, include contributions to The New Yorker, The Smithsonian, The New York Times, Newsweek, Discover, Newsday, Esquire, Ms., and The Washington Post. An experienced teacher, Cole has developed and taught courses in science and society at Wesleyan University and UCLA. She has also been a regular commentator on science issues for KPCC-FM.

Among her many awards, she has been honored with the American Institute of Physics Science Writing prize; the Los Angeles Times award for deadline reporting; the Skeptics’ Society Edward R. Murrow Award for Thoughtful Coverage of Scientific Controversies; Los Angeles Times award for best explanatory journalism, and the Elizabeth A. Wood Science Writing Award from the American Crystallographic Association. She is currently working on a philosophical biography of the late Frank Oppenheimer.

Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is among the nation's leading institutions devoted to the study of communication, journalism and public relations. Its professional education programs include The California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships, the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program and the Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. In addition to programs for working journalists, USC Annenberg enrolls more than 1,900 graduate and undergraduate students earning bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in journalism, communication, public diplomacy and public relations.

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Listen to Cole's radio commentaries
MAA columnist Keith Devlin on Cole