ASU creates endowed professorship to honor Sue Clark-Johnson, former Republic publisher

• Clark-Johnson spent more than 40 years in the newspaper business
• She was known as a visionary who embraced innovation
• Fund-raising for the faculty position is already underway

Arizona State University is creating an endowed faculty position in honor of the late Sue Clark-Johnson, former publisher of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.

ASU President Michael M. Crow described Clark-Johnson, who died two years ago this month, as a pioneer who embraced bold innovation.

“This endowed professorship will carry on Sue’s values and vision and preserve her extraordinary legacy," he said in a statement.

Clark-Johnson was a professor of practice at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication from 2010 to 2015. She helped create the school's digital-focused New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab.

Former Republic Publisher Louis A. “Chip” Weil, a close friend of Clark-Johnson, is spearheading fundraising for the faculty position. University officials said the Clark-Johnson Professorship has received significant funding from her husband, Brooks Johnson, friends and Arizona Public Service, where she was a board member of the parent company.

Cronkite officials are working to appoint a faculty member in the fall.

MORE:  Sue Clark-Johnson obituary |  EDITORIAL:  A kind leader

Johnson said his wife was passionate about the news business.

“She believed providing people the information to make informed choices could bring about real, positive change,” he said in a statement.

Technology has changed the way news is delivered, but "the need for factual, dispassionate reporting remains unchanged. I hope this professorship will help find new ways to keep traditional journalism alive," he said.

The Cronkite school has five other endowed faculty positions, including the Weil Family Professor of Journalism held by former Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr.

Clark-Johnson was known as a visionary, a motivator and multitasker.

Her newspaper career spanned more than 40 years. She began as a reporter in 1967 in upstate New York, at Gannett's newspaper in Niagara Falls. Ten years later she was publisher of that newspaper, then publisher of the Press & Sun Bulletin in 1983. She became Gannett's East regional vice president in 1984.

She later was publisher of the Reno Gazette-Journal and promoted to senior group president of Gannett's West region.

In 2000, she was named Chairman and CEO of The Republic and senior group president of the Pacific Region.

During her five years in Phoenix, from 2000 to 2005, Clark-Johnson helped transform The Republic into a news and information organization that included the newspaper, magazines and Spanish-language publications.

She championed an aggressive local-news strategy, expanding coverage on azcentral.com and in The Republic's community sections in print. She encouraged reporting and commentary about the region's strengths and challenges and strategic ways to improve it.

Clark-Johnson was the first female head of the newspaper division of Gannett, parent of The Republic and azcentral.com, the nation's largest newspaper group. She held that post, at Gannett's headquarters, from 2005 to 2008 when she retired.

"I've been with the Gannett Company for over 40 years, and I've had a great run," she said at the time. "I've worked with some great people. I've been able to do almost everything you can do in this industry, and I've had a very good time doing it."

After retiring from Gannett, Clark-Johnson was appointed director in 2009 of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at ASU and became a professor of practice in the Cronkite school in 2010.

She died in January 2015 at age 67 after a short illness.

Republic reporter Russ Wiles contributed to this story.