Rick Shaw is director of Pictures of the Year International (POYi), an international photojournalism competition and archive sponsored by the Missouri School of Journalism and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. He joined the journalism school in 2004 as an assistant professor in the photojournalism sequence and director of photography for the Columbia Missourian, the faculty-run, student-staffed daily city newspaper.

Shaw's prior newspaper career spans 27 years in visual editing and management. He began as a photojournalist and moved into picture editing, working at a variety of newspapers including the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and then The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee for 12 years. At The Bee, Shaw served in a variety of positions including photo editor, assistant director of photography, and later as an assistant news editor. He then became the director of photography and graphics at The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, and in 2001 joined the Hartford (Conn.) Courant as its director of design and graphics.

Shaw has been recognized with several design and picture editing awards, including Picture Editor of the Year honors in Pictures of the Year International (POYi) and National Press Photographers Association competitions. The Sacramento Bee and Hartford Courant both have received the Angus McDougall Overall Excellence in Editing Award.

At Missouri, Shaw directed the student photo editing staff to an Award of Excellence in overall portfolio during the 63rd POYi competition in 2006.