Retired Washington Post editor Leonard Downie Jr. will soon be joining the faculty of ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Downie served as the editor of The Washington Post for 17 years prior to his retirement last July. Under his direction the newspaper earned 25 Pulitzer Prizes.

Beginning in fall 2009 semester, Downie will serve as the Weil Family Professor of Journalism at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus. Although this means Downie will be teaching classes as any professor would, Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan said he hopes to provide additional roles for the new professor.

“We’re going to get him involved in a lot of professional services,” Callahan said.

Downie visited ASU for a week in October and met with students from the various campuses. Callahan and other Cronkite administrators had been trying to recruit the editor to the school since they had first heard of his retirement in July.

“We’re just really excited to have Len Downie as a part of the faculty,” Callahan said. “He really is the best newspaper editor of his era, and to have him impart that knowledge to his students is going to be a huge benefit.”

Downie could not be reached for comment by press time.

— Josh Snyder