September 18, 2007
Associated Press CEO to speak at Purdue on Sept. 27
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
Tom Curley, president and CEO of the Associated Press, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. The title of his talk is "The Upside of Change Management."
Curley's talk, which is free and open to the public, is part of a yearly fall event sponsored by the Purdue Association of Leaders student group and the Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision.
In response to changing technology and reader preferences, Curley has charted an international plan to drive content and new business at the AP. Under his leadership, the AP has added content for finance, online video and entertainment audiences. The AP also became the first western news agency to open a bureau in Pyongang, North Korea, and added staff in Latin America, Asia and the Mideast, including Iraq, where the AP has more than 100 journalists.
Al Crispo, associate professor in the department and adviser to the student group, said students will be able to benefit from Curley's talk.
"How to deal with change in an organization is a topic that is important to anyone involved in leadership and is so fitting now that technology has revolutionized the way we interact," he said. "Tom Curley has had to deal with the influx of technology in the news industry, which has changed the way people receive and perceive news."
In addition, Crispo said he is impressed with Curley's leadership style and calls him an "exemplary leader."
"He really can be credited with reinventing and changing the culture at the Associated Press through his humanistic-centered management," Crispo said. "When he came to the AP, he started bringing people into the fold and asking their opinions, and this took some people by surprise. But his model of leadership is one that should be implemented in other industries."
Robyn DeMik, president of the Purdue Association of Leaders, said she's eager for students to hear Curley's message.
"Tom Curley has so much leadership and real-world experience, and his advice will be something students will be able to relate to," she said. "Unlike a lot of CEOs, he is very connected to what's happening in the world now and is even personally affected by events, such as losing reporters in Iraq. His message is something that students will want to listen to."
Curley was named president and CEO of the Associated Press in 2003. He previously was president and publisher of USA Today, the nation's largest-circulation daily newspaper, and also was senior vice president of the newspaper's owner, Gannett Co. Inc.
Curley started his journalism career at age 15 and worked at a variety of newspapers before becoming the original news staffer on the project that led to the creation of USA Today. He was assigned in 1979 by then-Gannett Chairman Al Neuharth to study the feasibility of a national newspaper. He later worked in every department of the newspaper. In 1986 he became the newspaper's president and, in 1991, added the title of publisher.
Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu
Sources: Al Crispo, (765) 494-5609, alwc@purdue.edu
Michael Beyerlein, department head of organizational leadership and supervision, (765) 494-0448, mbeyerle@purdue.edu
Robyn DeMik, rdemik@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
To the News Service home page