For the students who’ve just arrived at COM, it’s a year of firsts: first dorm room, first university classes, first friends at the college, first project deadline…

I’m also having a fun series of firsts as the new dean at my alma mater (Class of 1986, journalism, with a concentration on magazines). As I type this, I have been back at COM for a little over a month. Although the building is familiar, it’s changed enough to feel like a whole new place to me. I’ve now enjoyed my first COM undergraduate and graduate student orientations, my first meetings with parents, and my first fall college events, like the annual ice cream social on our lovely lawn. And now my first letter to you all via COMtalk. I’m looking forward to more such inaugurals during the coming weeks and months.

Speaking of firsts, we’ve just concluded the first-ever Boston University Campaign, which helped us enhance what we do at COM. As part of the festivities for the campaign’s conclusion during Alumni Weekend, I was thrilled to meet two of COM’s amazing alumni. Pete Souza (’76), a freelance photographer and professor emeritus of visual communication at Ohio University, was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award for his stellar work as a photojournalist. He was the chief official White House photographer for President Obama and director of the White House photo office. You may have seen his best-selling 2017 book, Obama: An Intimate Portrait, replete with portraits that offer an arresting level of intimacy. His latest is Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents. I also was inspired to meet Erica V. Mosca (CGS’06, COM’08), who was honored with a Young Alumni Award for her tireless efforts in helping underrepresented students to gain a college education. Congrats again to them both.

In COMtalk, you’ll learn how other alumni, students and faculty are innovating and shaping the conversations around communication. You can read about Bob Fishman (’69), a legendary director for NFL and NCAA basketball coverage on CBS. Amazingly, he’s directed March Madness coverage for almost four decades. Check out our Q&A with Tina Martin, an award-winning broadcast journalist for WGBH and PBS NewsHour who just joined our journalism faculty. And, finally, learn about Lisa Taback (’89), who built a reputation as one of Hollywood’s top PR campaigners during awards season, having led campaigns for Academy Award Best Picture winners such as The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Spotlight and Moonlight.

But, wait, there’s more: I was delighted to meet the students in the COM CO 101 classes to introduce myself at the start of the semester. I hadn’t been in that class since I took an earlier version of it decades ago. It was great to meet the students, but I had to confess something to them. I was feeling excited for them—and maybe even a tad jealous—because I know that they are taking their first steps in what can be an exhilarating journey into the world of communication and storytelling.

I wish them—and all of you—a fantastic fall.