Rumors began to circle around Clarkston High School in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, about a potential ongoing affair between an English teacher and a student until a curious young man made a discovery. The teacher called in sick, assigning the students to have class in the library. Chris Roush, an 18-year-old senior, channeled his inner Sherlock Holmes and began investigating.
Roush uncovered two things that day. Roush found love letters between the student and the teacher, and more importantly, his newfound vocation. “That is probably the thing that made me want to be a journalist,” said Roush. “Getting information and proving something to be true is what journalism is all about.”
Decades later, Roush is the poster child in the profession of business journalism and an influential professor to his students. He has authored numerous books in the field of business journalism, the most recent titled, “The Future of Business Journalism: Why It Matters For Wall Street and Main Street.” In the realm of academia, Roush accepted Journalism Teacher of The Year from the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2010.
Roush is currently the Dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University and the founder of Talking Biz News, a news source with a focus on business journalism.
After graduating from Auburn University in 1987 and subsequently earning a master’s in mass communication from the University of Florida, Roush started work as a reporter for numerous Florida based news publications. New to the profession, Roush made his fair share of rookie errors. As a writer for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Roush committed a journalistic sin: he assumed.
Roush had conducted an interview by telephone with a man by the name of Sam Miller. Miller had a feminine voice and in the article Roush attributed Miller with the pronoun, she. As time passed, Roush met a bearded and bald headed individual named Sam Miller. Embarrassed, Roush apologized for his assumption.
Similarly, working as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Underground Atlanta issued a press release regarding concerts during the 1996 Summer Olympics. The press release listed bands of the same caliber as the ones signed for the 1996 summer concerts. Not reading the press release carefully, Roush assumed that these bands were performing and wrote a story naming said bands. “You’ve really got to watch what press releases say and what press releases don’t say,” Roush said.
As Roush worked through the growing pains in his early career, his overall success as a reporter in local newspapers allowed for Roush to climb the professional ladder. Although Roush lacked an education in business, Roush realized the importance of the subject. Roush began roles in multiple business journals such as Bloomberg and SNL Financial. “Business impacts all of us in one way or another every single day we are alive,” Roush said.
During his time working for SNL Financial in Charlottesville, Virginia, Roush began teaching classes at Washington and Lee University. Finding the profession comforting, Roush applied for a job at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It was really partly personal, in that my sons were 10 and 5 at the time. I felt like I was missing out on a lot of things with them and becoming a professor would allow me to spend more time with my kids and give me a more flexible schedule while still doing journalism part-time,” Roush said.
Roush’s career in teaching at Chapel Hill was far from a failure. He created the business journalism program, earned the title of Senior Associate Dean and received recognition as a Walter E. Hussman Distinguished Professor. “There’s a reason he’s in education. He has this ability to make people believe in themselves and make difficult things seem not too hard,” said son Tyler Roush.
A peer to peer connection is as important as the curriculum to Roush. “I don’t think I’ve ever met another person like my dad,” said Tyler. “Most other professors ask to be called by their title or their degree. He just wants to be Chris, and whatever someone needs him to be.”
Above all, Roush is a father. Roush does not view his accolades or widespread recognition to be his highest achievements. Roush finds the greatest satisfaction in the morals instilled in his two children.
“My biggest accomplishment are my two sons and that I raised them to be good people and to be good to other people,” said Roush. “When I think about my life, that is my biggest accomplishment.”
“If you stop measuring personal growth, you start dying,” said Roush. With his favorite childhood song, “Let’s go” by The Cars, as a motivator in the background of Roush’s life, Roush makes an effort to be the best version of himself. “I am my worst enemy and my worst critic,” said Roush, emphasizing the necessity to hold himself to the highest standard.
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