Bill  Handy

Assistant Professor

Bill Handy is coordinator of Medill’s Global Journalism Program, and an assistant professor. For more than 30 years, he was an editor and publishing executive working in mainstream journalism (newspapers and the Associated Press) as well as niche-market periodicals, books and a dot.com start-up/failure based in Dallas. In addition to teaching, he consults on communications and publishing strategy. His newsroom leadership positions have included AP bureau chief in Chicago, managing editor in Wichita and senior editor in Tampa. As a reporter in Florida, he specialized in organized crime and investigative reporting. Handy graduated from the University of North Carolina (journalism), attended grad school at Duke University (sociology) and completed advanced management training at Harvard Business School.

At Medill, Handy regularly teaches Methods – Newswriting, and sometimes coordinates the first-quarter Methods curriculum. He also teaches Urban Issues and Health & Science in the Chicago newsroom. Handy has been director of two Medill magazine-innovation projects – development of the tablet-based magazine Beaucoup, and the reimagining of Abroad View from print to web-based. 

In 2009, Handy was editorial coordinator of Medill’s News21 project, part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. His resulting academic paper, Understand and Engage: Medill’s Audience-Focused Approach to News 21, explains the philosophy at the heart of the school’s journalism training, and the power of its application in a real-world situation.

Office

Fisk B8B

Phone

847-491-7372

Email

w-handy@northwestern.edu