The Bryan K. Monroe Scholarship Fund
Bryan K. Monroe, a professor of journalism at the Klein College of Media and Communication and a nationally known journalist, died suddenly on January 13, 2021, at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, at the age of 55.
Bryan joined the faculty of Klein College in 2015 after a long and distinguished career as a leader in journalism and an advocate for the advancement of people of color in the profession. He was a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Born in Munich, Germany, Bryan was the son of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. James W. Monroe and the late Charlyne Monroe. He was a graduate of the University of Washington and had been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
He had a stellar career as a journalist, including serving as assistant vice president of news at Knight Ridder Newspapers, where he helped lead journalists at the Biloxi Sun Herald to the 2006 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
He also was editor of Ebony and Jet magazines, and in that role had the distinction of being the first person to interview Barack Obama after his election as president and the last to interview Michael Jackson before he died – a fact he loved sharing with students the first day of each semester. He went on to become editor of CNNPolitics.com and served as a visiting professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism before joining Temple and Klein.
Bryan was known throughout the profession as a generous friend and mentor to many, and helped countless professionals and students to hone their craft.
Bryan's family established The Bryan K. Monroe Scholarship Fund to provide financial assistance to students who aspire to use journalism to make the world a better place. Your support will enable the college to honor their beloved colleague and to help students follow in Bryan's footsteps to achieve their dreams.
Please note: Your gift will go towards the creation of an endowed fund for the scholarship. Temple University’s required minimum threshold for an endowed scholarship is $50,000. Once the fund reaches this level, it will become endowed in perpetuity.