Rita Reed Assistant Professor, Missouri School of Journalism

 Rita is currently an associate professor at the Missouri School of Jouranalism. Previously, Reed worked as a photographer at the Cedar Rapids Gazette and then the Minneapolis Star Tribune for 14 years. In 1997 her book entitled Growing Up Gay; the Sorrows and Joys of Gay and Lesbian Adolescence, was published. In 1993, Reed received a Nikon Sabbatical grant to work on a project on Samali girls growing up in the United States. Reed’s photographs of the South American drug war were shown in the1990 World Press Exhibit. She has also received awards of excellence in the Pictures of the Year Contest in 1986, 1987, and 1992 and a silver award from the National Society of Newspaper Design in 1987. Reed was named Iowa photographer of the year once and Minnesota photographer of the year three times. Reed received her bachelor of science degree in social studies from South West Missouri State University and her masters in journalism at the University of Missouri in 1984.