Biography

Rick Brunson is senior instructor of journalism in the Nicholson School’s Film and Mass Media program where he has taught courses in digital, print and broadcast journalism for more than 20 years. Brunson is an award-winning media educator and professional journalist with 40 years of experience as a reporter, editor, writer and producer at news outlets throughout Florida, including the Orlando Sentinel and WFTV Channel 9, Central Florida’s ABC affiliate.

In 2024, he was named Faculty Champion for Community News, a national honor bestowed by the University of Vermont’s Center for Community News for his leadership in fostering news-academic partnerships in his courses at UCF. In 2022, he and his students were recipients of the national Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Digital Reporting, one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism, for a multimedia project that spotlighted the legacy of slain local civil-rights champions Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore. Brunson is also a multiple winner of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sunshine State Award (2022 and 2023) for excellence in radio reporting, and in 2019 he was nominated for a regional Emmy Award for his documentary film work.

In 2008, Brunson was inducted in the Nicholson School Hall of Fame. He is a proud UCF graduate (Class of 1984) and a longtime Central Florida resident with deep family roots here. Brunson lives in Orlando with his wife Ruthe, with whom he raised two adult children. The Brunsons now enjoy two beautiful grandchildren and can regularly be found schlepping with them at the beach or spoiling them at Walt Disney World.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• News reporting
• Editing
• Journalism ethics