Associate Professor Mike Dillon joined the Duquesne University faculty in 1998 and teaches in the areas of Print Journalism and Mass Media. He has published two books and numerous scholarly articles and book chapters. Prior to earning his Ph.D. at Penn State and embarking on an academic career, Dillon was a newspaper reporter and won 15 awards for journalistic excellence in the categories of news and sports reporting, feature writing, and column and editorial writing. From 2000-2003, he was Associate Editor and Chief Writer of Primo Magazine, a national glossy.
Dillon has profiled pop legend Tony Bennett, iconic racer Mario Andretti, and Lee Ielpi — a New York City fireman who helped lead the search for bodies at Ground Zero, where his firefighter son died trying to save others. Dillon continues to write as a freelancer and recent essays have appeared in New York Newsday, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Dallas Morning News.
Dillon is the advisor of the DU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and oversees publication of the Duquesne-SPJ magazine Off the Bluff. He’s been the recipient of a university Presidential Scholarship Award and a Creative Teaching Award. Dillon is also a media consultant (pro bono) to the September 11th Families Association.
Primary Courses Taught:
Recent Publications:
Books
The Life and Times of E.H. Butler: A Crusading Journalist Navigates the Gilded Age. Edwin Mellen Press, 2004 (Winner, Adele Mellen Prize for Distinguished Scholarship).
Media Ethics Goes to the Movies (with Howard Good). Praeger, 2002.
Selected Recent Articles