Dr. Debbie Owens’ career in higher education spans 38 years, 22 of which have been at Murray
State University. She joined the faculty in 2002 as an associate professor with the Department of
Journalism and Mass Communications, in The Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business. While
at MSU, Professor Owens has held numerous leadership positions, including electronic media
sequence head, internship coordinator, mass communications graduate program director (2012-
2016), and interim department chair (2016-2018). Her committee involvement has included
service with the President’s Strategic Planning/ Community Engagement, University Quality
Enhancement (QEP), Kentucky Senate Bill-1 Learning Communities, Graduate Programs and
Curriculum Assessment, Faculty Development, and a Special Projects director in the
Bauernfeind Business College.
Professionally, she worked as a newspaper reporter and editor, public affairs broadcast
producer and general assignments reporter, an advertising/marketing copywriter, an advisory
committee member at WTVD News Channel 11 (Durham, N.C.), and a media-political
consultant. She has served in several leadership positions with the Broadcast Education
Association, including membership on its Publications Board and Gender Issues Division
president. She also served as the student research chair for the Minorities in Communication
Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Additionally, Owens has held professional fellowships with the International Radio Television Society
Foundation, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, Radio-Television News
Directors Foundation, American Society of Newspaper Editors, and the Poynter Institute.
Dr. Owens is an alum of the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Leadership Institute.
She participated in the Time Warner College Professors Leadership Seminar in New York. She
was a Visiting Scholar at Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Owens received her B.A. in English Literature from
Brooklyn College of the City University of New York; her M.S. in Journalism from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and her Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the
University of Florida.
She is listed in Who’s Who Among Black Americans and in Cambridge Who’s Who. She is a
founding board member of Young Stroke Advocates, Inc., a non-profit organization which
promotes support for stroke survivors. A former vice-president of MSU’s Black Faculty Staff
Association and a recipient of the Key to the City of Murray, Dr. Owens has been honored by the
Calloway County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for
her contributions to the community. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,
Incorporated, and belongs to several academic honor societies, including Kappa Tau Alpha and
Phi Kappa Phi.
ABOUT THIS PHOTO:
Dr. Debbie Owens received the 2024 Dr. Steve Jones Award for service and excellence in supporting students and promoting an inclusive campus community. Pictured are: Dr. S.G. Carthell (left), Executive Director of Multicultural Initiatives, Dr. Debbie Owens, JMC, Dr. Bob Jackson, MSU President, and Dr. Don Robertson, Vice President of Student Affairs. [Photo Courtesy/Murray State Photography]
Dr. Steve H. Jones arrived at Murray State University in 1977 as one of the campus’s original seven black faculty members. As an Emeritus Associate Professor of Gerontology at Murray State University and former Chair of the Department of Social Work, Criminal Justice and Gerontology, Jones had a wealth of knowledge and used it to apply an informed pedagogical approach to teaching that was both engaging and intellectually stimulating for students.He retired after 35 years of service in 2012, and passed away on March 24, 2023.
