Phillip Todd is an Instructor in Journalism and the Faculty Advisor for The Shield, USI’s independent student-run newspaper. He earned his doctorate in mass communication at the University of Oklahoma, and his dissertation won the 2020 Penn State Davis Media Ethics Award. Todd’s interest in journalism began in the 1970s with a startup neighborhood and class newsletters created with typewriters and lots of carbon paper. After working for his high school and several university newspapers, he began freelancing which eventually led to full-time journalism work for over a decade in south-central Kentucky, including newspapers, magazines and radio. He transitioned to a career in advising and teaching and advised three different student publications and taught at seven different schools in central Oklahoma for 23 years. He continues to serve on the Board of the Society of Professional Journalists, Indiana Pro Chapter, as a clinician and as a contest judge, and keeps his foot in the trenches writing the occasional music review and reporting periodically as an AP election stringer. Although he’s only been at USI for a year, Todd and his wife, Heather, are ecstatic about all things Evansville and enjoy supporting the USI Screaming Eagles.