Michael D. Bolden

Faculty – Dean and Professor

Professor Michael D. Bolden is the Dean of UC Berkeley Journalism.

Formerly the CEO and Executive Director of the American Press Institute (API), Bolden has had a distinguished career that has taken him from the New Orleans Times-Picayune to the Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle, the John S. Knight Fellowship program at Stanford University and API. He has worked as a local reporter and national editor, a teacher and nonprofit leader.

At the San Francisco Chronicle, as director of culture and operations, one of the organization’s masthead editors, he helped the newsroom respond to online harassment and abuse. During the pandemic, he co-developed a new remote John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University to improve how journalists serve communities of color.

At API, Bolden updated the organization’s focus toward inclusion, civic discourse, community engagement and newsroom sustainability to address the urgent needs of a changing field.

Bolden, who lectured at and holds a master’s degree from Stanford University, will focus on preparing the next generation of journalists to meet the evolving information needs of a complex, diverse society. He says that students must learn not only how to report and tell great stories across media, but they must understand how news organizations can function as facilitators and conveners that reinforce the social fabric of society. He sees Berkeley Journalism graduates as the next generation of empathetic news leaders who will help communities thrive.

Read the announcement about his appointment in June 2025 here.

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