April 18, 1995

"Consummate newspaperman" and J-School alum Lee Hills stands in front of the new home for the Missourian, a newly-dedicated building that bears his name.	Tina and Lee Hills listen while Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan speak at the dedication ceremony.	Media Files Photo Montage: Construction begins on the new Lee Hills Hall. QuickTime: 5.1MB Photo Montage: Opening of Lee Hills Hall. QuickTime: 4.0MB KOMU News Story: Opening of Lee Hills Hall. QuickTime: 8.1MB Audio File: Lee Hills makes his building dedication speech. QuickTime: 15.8MB Photo Montage: A word of thanks from Lee Hills. QuickTime: 4.0MB
	Crowding out Elm Street traffic for the dedication ceremony.
Don't cross police and fire lines without it! Lee Hills' old press card from Cleveland.
The Marvin D. McQueen Rotunda in Lee Hills Hall

Lee Hills Hall had its beginning 37 years ago when the University of Missouri School of Journalism celebrated its 50th anniversary. Distinguished alumni were invited to return, and each was provided with the services of a student guide. A senior named John Ginn drew a Pulitzer Prize-winning executive of Knight Newspapers named Lee Hills and immediately developed an acute case of hero worship, which persists to this day.

The next step in the history of this building came in 1988 in the form of a few quiet conversations between two former Charlotte Observer reporters; this same John Ginn, then publisher of the Anderson Independent-Mail and chairman of the Columbia Missourian's board of directors, and Jim Batten, then president and CEO of Knight-Ridder and a trustee of Knight Foundation.

The gist of their talks was subsequently summed up this way in a letter from John to Jim:

"The idea is to construct the Lee Hills building at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. As I see it, this idea speaks to two important needs. One is the need to acknowledge in an appropriate way Lee Hills' major contributions to the newspaper industry. The other is the Missourian's desperate need for a new home. It is now housed in space so inadequate that much of its newsprint is stored outdoors under a tarpaulin."

"My hope is that the Lee Hills building could be built with a $2 million grant from the Knight Foundation matched by $2 million raised from Missouri Journalism alumni."

Lee was Knight Foundation's vice chairman at the time, so getting the trustees' approval called for a back-channel approach. All of us, of course, recognized the University of Missouri as a pioneering leader in journalism education. We were well aware of the role the Missourian had played in training generations of newspapermen and women. And we certainly needed no persuasion on the appropriateness of recognizing Lee Hills' enormous contributions to American journalism. The board agreed it was a great idea whose time had come.

So on April 14, 1989, Knight Foundation announced it challenge grant launching the campaign for Lee Hills Hall; a challenge met with more than $3 million in contributions from the Kresge Foundation, Lee and his wife Tina, Missouri School of Journalism alumni and supporters, and hundreds of Lee's friends and colleagues who have valued his wisdom, guidance and advice through the years.

So now we celebrate the dedication of this handsome building on the campus where it all began almost four decades ago. The story, however, does not end here but will continue for generations to come as future journalists pass through Lee Hills Hall, a fitting tribute to the consummate newspaperman.