By Amelia Brodka

Journalism and communication professor Félix Gutiérrez (pictured) has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the Lionel C Barrow Jr. Award for Distinguished Achievement in Diversity Research and Education. The award is given by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, or AEJMC.

The award, recognizing outstanding individual accomplishment and leadership in diversity efforts for underrepresented groups by race and ethnicity in journalism and mass communication, will be presented at this year's AEJMC conference.

Gutiérrez has a personal tie to the award. “Beginning in 1970, Lee Barrow was a role model, mentor and barrier breaker for me,” said Gutiérrez. “I am very humbled and deeply honored to be receiving an award that bears his name.”

Since 1972, Gutiérrez has focused his scholarship and publications on racial diversity and media. His advocacy for accurate representation of the nation’s racial and social diversity has been recognized nationally by the Asian American Journalists Association, Black College Communication Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, National Association of Minority Media Executives and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. He has also been recognized twice previously by AEJMC, receiving the organization’s President’s Award in 1987 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2001.

In 2009, Gutiérrez curated an exhibit titled Voices for Justice: 200 Years of Latino Newspapers in the United States, which traced the Latinos’ liberation from the “forgotten pages” of U.S. Latino newspapers from 1808 to present-day media outlets.

Gutiérrez served as the senior vice president of the Freedom Forum and the Newseum for twelve years. His responsibilities included researching diversity exhibits along with developing foundation programs and grants to advance the learning, teaching and practice of journalism through professional associations and universities. He also developed and supervised Pacific Coast Center programs in Oakland and San Francisco.

“For more than 40 years I've played a very small role in a very large movement to make classrooms, newsrooms and news coverage more diverse and inclusive of all Americans,” he said. “As the number and visibility of women and men of all colors and sexual orientations increase as part of the American landscape, it is more important than ever that media reflect accurate and inclusive reports of our diverse society.”

Lionel C Barrow Jr. Award for Distinguished Achievement in Diversity Research and Education

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