Storer H. (Bob) Rowley
board member | VICE PRESIDENT
As a lifelong writer, editor, correspondent, teacher and commentator, I have spent a life in communication. In an era of alternative facts and disinformation, I believe it is more important than ever for professionals—and all of us--to speak out in defense of the truth, facts, freedom of expression and the role of honest communicators and media in getting this moment right. The future of our nation and our democracy depends on telling the truth, reporting the facts, underscoring fairness and transforming media in a digital age to engage readers, viewers and listeners with reliable, responsible, evidence-based storytelling. I have covered the White House and the Pentagon, foreign policy and national security, democracy and disaster, at home and around the world in more than 50 countries. Truth matters. Being there matters. Journalism matters.
Now, I write commentary and analysis pieces for Washington Monthly and the Chicago Tribune, among other outlets. I’m an Adjunct Lecturer in the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and co-direct of Medill’s Politics, Policy and Foreign Affairs specialization for graduate students. I am also a Faculty Member at Northwestern’s School of Communication and former Assistant Vice President of Media Relations at the University. In that later role, I managed all of Northwestern’s daily media relations activities, supervised the media relations and social media staff in the Department of Global Marketing and Communications and directed Northwestern’s internal communications, including all news content on Northwestern’s home page and the Northwestern Now web page. I served as a spokesman for Northwestern, oversaw media training and integrated marketing projects and handled crisis and emergency communications for the university.
Today, I lecture in the Master of Science in Communication (MSC) Program and teach a course on Content and Influencer Marketing at Northwestern. As founding president of the MSC Alumni Association, I work with the MSC Program regularly and mentor current students and alumni. I also lecture in the Medill School of Journalism, where I teach a course on Israel Today, Journalism in Practice, to undergraduates, as well as the Politics Seminar course for MSJ students. I also lecture occasionally on public policy advocacy, communication, education, writing, and foreign affairs at Northwestern and other universities. Before Northwestern, I was executive director of government and community relations at Elmhurst College from 2009 to 2011, where I taught journalism and world religions.
Earlier, I spent 30 years working for the Chicago Tribune (1979-2009), the last seven of them as national editor. I also served there as a member of the Editorial Board writing about foreign affairs and defense issues, and before that, was a foreign correspondent for 12 years based in Mexico, Canada and Israel. I served as the Tribune’s White House and Pentagon correspondents in Washington, D.C., and I was a national correspondent covering the Southwest and based in Dallas. I covered a dozen wars as well as natural disasters, human rights, politics, economics, culture, religion and the human condition around the world.
