Knight Ridder is out of business but its name is on a new journalism chair at Santa Clara University. The university has announced that Sally Lehrman (pictured), a reporter who specializes in science and society, will be its first Knight Ridder San Jose Mercury News Endowed Chair in Journalism and the Public Interest. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Nature, Health and Salon.com. She shares a Peabody award and Peabody/Robert Wood Johnson Award for excellence in health and medical programming, and a Columbia/Du Pont Silver Baton. She wrote “News in a New America,” a book that offers a fresh take on developing an inclusive U.S. news media.

As a new member of Santa Clara’s Communication Department, Lehrman will work on a book about genetics and race, a statement from the university said. “She will teach aspiring journalists and collaborate on projects to improve journalism’s ability to serve the public at a time of rapid change in the profession.”

She will be the first recipient of an endowed chair funded by the former Knight Ridder newspaper company and its flagship paper, the Mercury News. Tony Ridder, who served as chairman and CEO of Knight Ridder, now serves as a member of Santa Clara University’s Board of Trustees. (Photo credit: MediaBistro)