Regina Lawrence was announced as the interim dean of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication on Aug. 1.

Lawrence steps into the role amid a multi-million dollar budget deficit left behind by former Dean Juan-Carlos Molleda, who resigned following scrutiny over his travel expenses and financial management of the school.

Lawrence received a master’s degree in political science from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and earned her Ph.D. in political science at the University of Washington. Her research concentrates on the role media plays in conversations and coverage of politics and policy. She has taken a particular interest in gender politics, the competitive nature of political news coverage and the influence of social media strategies in campaigns. Her research has been published in Political Communication, Political Research Quarterly and Journalism Studies.

She has also written a number of books including “Hillary Clinton’s Race for the White House: Gender Politics and the Media on the Campaign Trail,” “When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina” and “The Politics of Force: Media and the Construction of Police Brutality.”

In 2011 she began her role as director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, a program in which students and faculty work collaboratively to research civic participation statewide, at the University of Texas, Austin. In 2015, Lawrence was hired as the executive director for the SOJC at UO’s Portland Campus and shortly after transitioned to associate dean.

In her temporary position at the Eugene campus, Lawrence clarified she is not completely relocating her home and will continue to stay connected to the Portland community, in part due to her family.

Her husband runs a rapidly growing business called Wildwood Chocolate, based in Portland. Their daughter is earning her master’s of social work at Portland State University, and their son, who has recently graduated from Grant High School, will be playing soccer at an international soccer academy.

The search for a permanent dean is still ongoing and the position is anticipated to be filled by July 2026.

Amid financial uncertainty and expected layoffs throughout the entire university, all colleges must make an effort to cut costs. Lawrence confirms it’s “definitely a year for action. It’s not a year for kind of caretaking or sitting passively.”

She adds that many decisions are already underway: “The things I’ve started working on now were really already in progress, which is trying to come up with a plan for how can we cut some costs, also, hopefully, how can we generate more revenues.”

Lawrence’s time at UO’s Portland Campus as the associate dean ensures a smooth transition as she navigates the challenges posed in her new position. Her responsibilities included facilitating and supervising the three professional masters programs: Multimedia Storytelling, Immersive Media Communication and Strategic Communication. Lawrence assures that “as much as possible, trains run on time for all our graduate students.”

UO Portland’s unique master’s degree, Immersive Media Communication, is fully online and launched under Lawerence’s administration in 2023, providing students a flexible higher education experience. She notes, “We were only the second or third online only program at the University.” Lawrence was the associate dean as the Portland Campus changed locations from downtown to the former Concordia University campus. She was tasked in overseeing its construction and exploring potential housing options for students. Planned facilities include an advanced production studio equipped with a nine by 20 foot LED wall and an audio booth.

Beyond her contribution as associate dean, she had immense influence at the broader Portland campus community. Lawrence held leadership positions at the Oregon Reality Lab, which conducts research and creative content building, and at the Agora Journalism Center, grounded in community-focused journalism. Across the Portland campus, she chaired an academic committee that addressed the academic needs of all students, not limited to the SOJC.

From afar she continued to stay involved at the SOJC at the Eugene campus as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, the co-chair of the Graduate Council and contributed to Ph.D. admission decisions.

As the interim dean, many of the required responsibilities are familiar to Lawrence, including the “wearing of a lot of different hats” and “the management of a lot of different projects and processes.” In addition, she will continue to have a direct relationship with the Provost, the campus at large and external SOJC benefactors. The magnitude of student enrollment at the Eugene campus, which has over 20,000 SOJC students compared to Portland’s at around 3,000, poses a unique undertaking for Lawrence:

“I think the interim dean’s job, is that same multifaceted job, but at a much higher and bigger level, right? There’s so much more at the SOJC overall, of course –– so many more programs, so many more students and so many more faculty,” she said.

Lawrence believes the key to her adjustment and success is learning, listening and consulting with Eugene faculty and students. In the fall, with the arrival of more students and colleagues, she will have ample opportunity to “reach out to the people that I can and just hear what their ideas are, what their concerns are, and kind of put all of that together.”

Additionally, the interim dean’s admiration for the SOJC community is a driving force behind her willingness to take on this new opportunity during a critical time for UO. Lawrence said, “I remember when I interviewed here. It was over 10 years ago now, and I was just so drawn in by the creativity and smarts of this group of people, the faculty and the students here.”

Lawrence said she is dedicated to securing the unique character of the SOJC in fostering the collaboration of academics, professionals, creatives and practitioners: “I told the provost that I would be willing to step up because we’re in an important moment for the school. A lot has happened, and we need to get ourselves ready for a successful search for the next dean.”

Broadly, Lawrence articulates concern about the threat journalism faces under the current presidential administration, and the role the SOJC plays in moving the profession forward. The technological advancements of AI has caused the field of journalism to adapt in this new landscape, Lawrence adds.

She continues to emphasize the importance of innovation and ethics in the midst of uncertainty. “It’s a particularly crucial moment for schools like ours to be articulating the value of what we do, but also sort of not just defending traditional ways of doing things,” Lawrence said.