The 2006 selection committee for the Edward L. Bliss Award for Distinguished Broadcast Journalism Education has selected Professor William L. "Bill" Knowles of the University of Montana as this year's recipient of the award.

The award will be presented at the RTVJ's business meeting at the AEJMC conference in San Francisco, Ca. on Thursday, August 3, at 7 p.m.

Knowles has taught at the University of Montana since 1986. Prior to that, he was West Coast Bureau Chief for ABC News. He also served as Washington Bureau Chief for the network after having served it in several other capacities.

A former Head of the RTVJ Division, Bill has been an active member of AEJMC since 1988, and is noted for his extensive national service contributions to journalism organizations. He is retiring from the University of Montana this year.

Please join the selection committee and me in congratulating Bill Knowles on a well-deserved honor.  And please join us in San Francisco for a more thorough presentation of his many contributions to the academy, to professional journalism, and to his wide array of friends and colleagues.

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Past winners of the Ed Bliss Award (formerly the Distinguished Broadcast Journalism Educator Award) include:

Jack Shelly, Iowa State (1983)
Ed Bliss, American University (1984)
Dick Yoakam, Indiana (1985)
Henry Lippold, Wisconsin-Eau Claire(1986
Rod Gelatt, Missouri (1987)
Mitchell Charnley, Minnesota (1988)
Don Brown, Arizona State (1989)
Irving Fang, Minnesota (1990)
Ernest F. Andrews, Syracuse(1991)
Al Anderson, Texas-Austin (1992)
Michael Murray, Missouri-St. Louis(1993)
Joseph R. Dominick, Georgia (1994)
Joan Konner, Columbia (1995)
Gordon Greb, San Jose State (1996)
Travis Linn, Nevada-Reno (1997)
Vernon Stone, Missouri(1998)
Elmer Lower, ABC, NBC (1999)
Ken Keller, SIU-Carbondale (2000)
Lincoln Furber, American University (2001)
James Hoyt, Wisconsin (2002)
Phillip O. Keirstead, Florida A&M University (2003)
Thomas Griffiths, Brigham Young University (2004)
Peter Mayeux, University of Nebraska (2005)