On May 8 at 9:30 a.m., Klein College of Media and Communication graduates and ceremony attendees will hear a keynote address from Temple University’s interim provost and dean of the Klein College, David Boardman. Boardman will also receive an honorary degree at Temple University’s 139th Commencement, recognizing his leadership and contributions to journalism and higher education. 

“After leading Klein’s graduation exercises for more than a dozen years, it’s truly an honor to deliver our keynote address,” Boardman said. “I hope to provide some insight and some inspiration to our graduates.” 

Since joining the Klein College in 2013, Boardman has led major strategic initiatives that have raised its profile, resources and standing. He was named the Scripps Howard Administrator of the Year by his peers in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). As a journalist, he has received numerous other major national awards, including the National Ethics Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Goldsmith Prize in Investigative Reporting from Harvard University, the Worth Bingham Prize in Investigative Reporting, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and the Associated Press Managing Editors Public Service Award. 

This past academic year, Boardman served as the university’s interim provost as it conducted its search for a new provost, leading to the selection of Elizabeth A. Wentz (Libby), vice provost and dean of the Graduate College at Arizona State University. As Temple’s chief academic officer, Boardman worked with President Fry, other university leaders and faculty to set the academic strategy and vision for the future.  

His portfolio included overseeing the university’s 17 schools and colleges and numerous divisions that support the academic mission, faculty affairs, student success, global engagement and strategic planning, among others. He will resume his position as dean of the Klein College this summer.  

Previously, Boardman was executive editor and senior vice president of The Seattle Times, the largest news organization in the Pacific Northwest. Under his leadership, The Times won four Pulitzer Prizes and produced 10 Pulitzer finalists. 

Before joining The Seattle Times in 1983, Boardman was a reporter and editor at several papers in the Northwest and worked on a construction project in Liberia, West Africa. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and has a graduate degree from the University of Washington. He is an inductee of both the Medill Alumni Hall of Achievement and the University of Washington Communications Hall of Fame. 

Boardman is the founding chair of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the nonprofit that owns The Philadelphia Inquirer. He also chairs the nonprofit news site Spotlight PA, focused on public affairs in the Commonwealth.  

He is the immediate past chair of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and is a member of its executive committee. He also serves on the boards of the Solutions Journalism Network, the American Society of News Editors Foundation and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.   

Boardman is a past president and board member of Investigative Reporters and Editors and of the American Society of News Editors and served as chairman of the National Advisory Board of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. He is a Poynter Ethics Fellow. He is a former member of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation Board and has served six times as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes. 

Boardman has conducted seminars for journalists in Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hong Kong, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, South Africa and Turkey. 

“Our world is changing at such a rapid pace,” Boardman said. “But I am so proud of our ability at Klein to equip our students to both navigate and help lead that change.”