By Debora Almeida, News Correspondent
Through role play and a real-world approach to teaching, School of Journalism Professor Nick Daniloff earned the honor of Journalism Educator of the Year by the New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA). Daniloff accepted the award on Oct. 10 at the New England Newspaper Conference.
Daniloff began his career at Northeastern 25 years ago, after 30 years as a practicing international correspondent for United Press International and US News and World Report. Ten years of his career were spent abroad reporting in Russia. There, Daniloff made national news when he was arrested by the KGB for suspected espionage and freed by the Reagan administration.
“It’s the stuff of movies,” John Guilfoil, former student of Daniloff’s and current deputy press secretary for Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. “It makes you want to learn from him… you can’t fake experience.”
Daniloff educates his students through role play, sometime as Immanuel Kant to discuss philosophy, or as a statesman in a mock press conference about Iran. Guilfoil said that students were kept engaged with his hands-on teaching style by acting out ethical dilemmas and recreating real world situations and he has adopted this practice as an adjunct professor at Newbury College.
Daniloff stressed the importance of journalism as a practice, not a study.
“I try to bring the real world of journalism into the classroom,” Daniloff said. “A good journalism professor has real journalistic experience and didn’t just read about it.”
According to William Kirtz, fellow journalism professor at Northeastern, Daniloff has the “gravitas, intellectual heft and experience” that the School of Journalism had never seen before. He also said that Daniloff has the international viewpoint that no professor had ever brought to Northeastern. Kirtz said he believes that through Daniloff’s experience and connections, he is able to bring in excellent outside speakers who are currently working in the field. This was a belief shared by Guilfoil and Lincoln McKie, journalism professor and member of NENPA.
After 25 years at Northeastern, Daniloff recently announced his retirement.
“[The award came at] a great time although coincidental. He’s getting the award because he deserves it not because he’s retiring,” said McKie, who added that it reflects well on the School of Journalism to have had a professor of that stature.
Daniloff admitted that he has ambiguous feelings about retiring.
“It’s a let down separating from the faculty we have here,” he said.
His plans are not yet set in stone.
“I want to keep learning, read more Shakespeare, specifically his sonnets,” Daniloff said.
Possibilities for his future include editing Cold War studies at Harvard University, or volunteering with the Boston Archeological Project.
When asked what his greatest achievement as a journalist was, Daniloff said “surviving,” with a chuckle.
“I don’t look at my career as achievements. I didn’t win a Pulitzer Prize, don’t care. I did my job and it was exciting,” Daniloff said.
He eventually conceded that the three books he wrote reflecting on his career were his greatest achievements. This includes his memoir “Two Lives, One Russia” in which he accounts his time in Moscow.
As for his greatest achievement as a teacher, Daniloff says he will have to wait 10 or 15 years when his students develop successful journalism careers of their own. He hopes that they could attribute some of their success to his teachings. This is exactly the case with Guilfoil, who models his classes after Daniloff’s methods.
“I’m glad I learned from him,” Guilfoil said. “He is a valued educator and mentor. They just don’t make them like him anymore.”
