Ernest Wilson

Ernest James Wilson III, Ph.D., is the Walter Annenberg Chair in Communication and dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. He is also a professor of political science, a faculty fellow at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, a board member for the Pacific Council on International Policy and the National Academies’ Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from 2000 to 2010, the last year as chairman. Dean Wilson’s experience at the intersection of communication and public policy spans the private and public sectors. He founded the CPB’s New Digital Media Committee and Public Awareness Initiative Committee. He is also a member of the Carnegie-Knight Commission on the Future of Journalism Education and The National Academies Board on Research Data and Information, and was deputy director of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission from 1994 to 1995. Originally from Washington, D.C., Dean Wilson received his A.B. from Harvard and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from UC Berkeley.