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Geoffrey Cowan has served as dean of the USC Annenberg School since 1996 and holds the Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership. He teaches courses in journalism, holds a joint appointment in the USC Gould School of Law and directs the Annenberg School's Center on Communication Leadership.
For more than 30 years, Cowan has been an important force in almost every facet of the communication world — as a public interest lawyer, academic administrator, best-selling author and award-winning teacher, playwright, television producer and government official.
Prior to becoming dean, he served the nation as the 22nd director of the Voice of America. He previously taught communication law and policy at UCLA, where he was founding director of the university's Center for Communication Policy. He was honored with several teaching awards during his 20 years at UCLA. Concurrently with his teaching at UCLA, Dean Cowan was a television producer. He received an Emmy Award as executive producer of the television movie "Mark Twain & Me," which was voted the Outstanding Prime Time Program for Children.
An award-winning author, Cowan wrote See No Evil: The Backstage Battle Over Sex and Violence on Television (Simon & Schuster, 1980), and the best-selling The People v. Clarence Darrow: The Bribery Trial of America's Greatest Lawyer (Random House, 1993). He co-wrote the radio play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, which won CPB's Gold Medal for Excellence in Best Live Entertainment.
From 1979 to 1984, he was a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, playing a key role in the development of National Public Radio.
Cowan served as chairman of the Los Angeles commission that wrote the city's ethics code — cited as a model for the nation — for which he was awarded "Man of the Year" by the Council of Government Ethics Leaders. He also chaired the California Bipartisan Commission on Internet Political Practices.
He is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.
last updated 11/15/06
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