Earlier this year, Michael Wirth was selected out of a nationwide search to become the new dean of the College of Communication and Information. He began active duties on Aug. 1.
“I wasn’t actively looking for a job, but many people told me about the opportunity here,” Wirth said. “I decided to throw my hat in the ring.”
This came after Wirth had spent 29 years at the University of Denver as director of the School of Communications and professor and chair of the Department of Mass Communications and Journalism Studies. He applied and did a video interview, and after it was narrowed down to five finalists, Wirth was offered the job around late March. He accepted.
“I didn’t do it casually,” he said. “When you live somewhere for 29 years, you know everything there. It’s hard to go from somewhere where you know everything to somewhere where it’s completely new.”
The administration at The University of Tennessee has helped to ease the strain of moving for Wirth.
“Everyone’s been terrific,” he said. “When many things could have potentially gone wrong, the administration, faculty and staff have helped to facilitate the transition.”
As chief academic officer of the college, some of Wirth’s duties are to help resolve or offer input on any issues that come to him, approve any money transactions and fundraising and help utilize available resources.
“I think my role is to serve the administration and faculty to make this the best college it can be,” he said. “My vision of the college has to be consistent with the faculty’s strength. The four schools (under the College of Communication and Information) here have tremendous potential with a great group of people, and I’m just excited to be here and hopefully help take the college to the next level.”
Wirth, a Nebraska native, worked on a farm as he grew up with his five siblings.
“I knew I didn’t want to work on a farm,” he said. “It was hard work. It was definitely a character builder. However, I also didn’t see myself here as a dean.”
Two of his older sisters majored in journalism at the University of Nebraska, which led him to do the same. Now two of his daughters find themselves in related fields, one with a Ph.D. in Telecommunications and the other a reporter for a radio station.
Wirth, an advocate of studying abroad, was able to teach journalism and communications in China many times, expounding on communication and media education in the United States.
“It was a tremendous experience — one of the best experiences of my life,” Wirth said. “Anyone who has an opportunity to study abroad should definitely take advantage of it. It expands your horizons and adds to your understanding of other cultures.”
In a particularly hectic twist, and despite the fact that they were never warned, Wirth and a colleague had to write eight seminars in China with no material for a source in two weeks.
“Luckily, I had someone there with me, and we helped each other,” Wirth said. “With the ongoing translation into Chinese, you only needed an hour of material to cover a two-hour lecture with all the pauses.”
In life applications with majors, Wirth stresses finding a passion and pursuing it. He thinks you are more likely to have a successful career doing something you enjoy.
“I would advise undergraduates to do well in school by thinking critically and expressing yourself orally and in writing,” he said. “Take advantage of those external opportunities like internships and clubs. While what happens inside the classroom is transformational to a student, I think what happens outside the classroom is equally transformational.”