Ralph Izard
Founder and Former Executive Director
Professor Emeritus, Louisiana State University
Professor Emeritus, Ohio University
Dr. Ralph Izard, founder of Media Diversity Forum, was professor emeritus, both at Ohio University and at Louisiana State University. Izard was on the faculty at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where he served as director for 12 years, and at the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU, serving as interim dean for one year. He specializes in ethics, First Amendment and journalistic writing. He was a Freedom Forum fellow at the Media Studies Center in New York from 1998-99 and editor of the Newspaper Research Journal, 1988-2000.
Dr. Izard passed away on September 3, 2020.. His legacy lives through the work of his former students and colleagues.