School of Journalism

Mary Kay Blakely joined the MU School of Journalism as an associate professor in 1997. With an impressive career as a freelance writer, contributing editor to Ms. and visiting lecturer, she has been called “one of the most dynamic additions over the past few years to a faculty that is known for its dynamism.”

As a teacher of intermediate and advanced writing classes, Blakely transfers her love of the craft of writing to others. One student said: “She keeps her finger on the pulse of the industry and then generously passes on her wisdom to her students. Mary Kay taught us how to write and, just as important, how to get published.”

Colleagues praise her teaching skills as being in a “different league.” One said: “There are good teachers, even excellent teachers, and then there is Mary Kay.”

Blakely received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University. She has received the Exceptional Merit Media Award and the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Often sought as a commentator on women’s issues, she has appeared on numerous television programs, and the body of her published work has been licensed by Hallmark Inc. to excerpt for cards in its “American Voices” series.