TCU names new dean of Schieffer College of Communication

Kristie Bunton

Kristie Bunton, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at University of St. Thomas, has been selected as the new dean of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at Texas Christian University, effective this fall.

“I believe she will be a great fit for TCU. In this era when so many women are moving to the front lines in communications and doing some of the toughest jobs in journalism especially, having a qualified woman to lead our college sends a powerful message,” said veteran newsman Bob Schieffer for whom the college is named.

Bunton has served 22 years at St. Thomas, Minnesota’s largest private university, first as a journalism professor, then as chair of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department. In 2007, she oversaw its merger with the Communications Studies Department, a situation not unlike a similar merging of two units within TCU’s College of Communications a few years ago. Bunton was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2011.

She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Missouri and a doctorate in mass communication from Indiana University.