A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, JIM WILLIS spent his 12-
year newspaper editing career on papers ranging in size from the Edmond
(Okla.) Sun in suburban Oklahoma City, to the Dallas Morning News.
Several years into his career, Willis became concerned about the quality
of editors as people managers. Taking a leave from newspapering, he
returned to school full-time to research leadership styles for the news-
paper business. His research culminated in a Ph.D. in journalism at the
University of Missouri and a dissertation on "The Editor as a People
Manager."

Following graduation, Willis taught at Northeastern University where
he was the founding coordinator of a graduate program in news media
management. While in Boston, Willis contributed articles on newspaper
management to publications such as Nieman Reports, Editor & Pub-
lisher, Grassroots Editor, Journalism Educator, and the Oklahoma Pub-
lisher. Willis left Boston in 1987 to teach at Oklahoma State University,
where he completed his first book, Surviving in the Newspaper Business:
Newspaper Management in Turbulent Times.

Jim and Diane Willis now live in Indianapolis, where he coordinates
the news-editorial program at nearby Ball State University and consults
with publishers, and where she anchors the evening newscasts for
WRTV, the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis. The couple have a 7-year-old
son, David Min.

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