Smith named Reynolds chair at Missouri

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

The University of Missouri School of Journalism is expected to announce Monday that Randy Smith will become the first Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the school.

He is a 30-year veteran of The Kansas City Star and a former president of the Society of American Business Writers and Editors.

Smith, a 1974 graduate of Missouri, is deputy managing editor at The Star, where he supervises more than 100 reporters and editors in these areas of news: national, special projects, state and metropolitan.

Previously, Smith was a business editor at The Star. As president of SABEW, he came up with the idea of creating a SABEW chair in business journalism. That chair is now at the University of Missouri and is held by Marty Steffens.

As business editor, Smith grew his staff from 12 to 25 journalists, established the weekly Business Tuesday section, and started an annual section that ranks the area’s top businesses. He was a member of the team that won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for spot news for coverage of the Hyatt skywalk collapse in Kansas City.