Farewell, Rich Landesberg
In recent years, Elon Comm has bid farewell to several individuals synonymous with the school. Few have had a bigger presence and impact than Rich Landesberg, who announced his retirement at the end of the spring 2024 semester.
Prior to Elon, the associate professor of journalism and longtime faculty adviser to Elon News Network enjoyed a distinguished news career that included coverage of presidential campaigns, the Gulf War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and so many other national and international headlines. Following graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – where he formed a lasting bond with School of Communications Dean Kenn Gaither – Landesberg brought those experiences and insights into his Elon classrooms.
“He will be the first to tell you he is a recovering journalist, and I’ll be the first to tell you he hasn’t recovered,” quipped Gaither at the school’s awards ceremony in April.
Gaither applauded Landesberg for being “one of the purest guardians of truth and information through journalism.” Additionally, Anthony Hatcher, professor and chair of the Department of Journalism, credits his longtime colleague for establishing Elon’s strong reputation for journalism.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that Rich transformed journalism at Elon University,” Hatcher said. “Through his classes and his mentoring of generations of students who have passed through Elon News Network, he has helped to populate newsrooms around the country with qualified journalists.”
CAPTION: To acknowledge Landesberg’s impact, alumni Joe Bruno ’14 and Gary Grumbach ’16 organized a retirement celebration party in May in Snow Family Grand Atrium. “An Evening for Rich Landesberg” drew dozens of former students to campus to toast their former professor and mentor. Photo by Al Drago ’15.
