Nelson Poynter

Nelson Poynter. Photo courtesy IU Archives

Nelson Poynter, the benefactor for whom the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions is named, was born in Sullivan, Indiana, in 1903. His father bought the St. Petersburg Times in 1912, and the family moved to Florida. Nelson Poynter graduated with a B.A. from Indiana University in 1925 and a master's degree from Yale in 1927.

Over the years, Poynter worked in the newspaper business in a number of states and in a variety of capacities, including reporter, editor, advertising salesman, and business manager. He began buying stock from his father in 1935, became general manager of the St. Petersburg Times in 1938, editor in 1939, president in 1953 (upon his father's death) and chairman of the board in 1969.

In addition to his work in journalism, Poynter was involved in the U.S. Information Agency during World War II, helped organize the Foreign Information Service, which started the Voice of America, and with his wife founded the Congressional Quarterly.

Poynter was interested in improving journalism and bettering society. He established the Poynter Fund in 1954 to honor his father. He committed the funds to found and endow the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions at Indiana University in the 1970s, and he co-chaired the 1974 drive to raise funds to renovate Ernie Pyle Hall, home of the Indiana University School of Journalism.

Poynter also funded the Poynter Fellowship in Journalism at Yale. Many of his donations were in the St. Petersburg area, where he provided funding for the Modern Media Institute, now the Poynter Institute, and was a leader in the development of the St. Petersburg's campus of the University of South Florida.

Poynter died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1978. His legacy includes the organizations he created and his interest in educational opportunity.

Nelson Poynter's 1924 photo in the Arbutus. In the 1922 Arbutus photos of the Daily Student Editors, Poynter was listed at the City Editor, Second Semester, next to Ernest Pyle, City Editor, First Semester.

Brad Hamm, Dean of the School of Journalism, presented the Distinguished Alumni Award for Nelson Poynter to Wendy Wallace of the Poynter Institute in Florida and Richard Miller, director of the Poynter Center, September 16, 2011. Poynter was one of 15 journalists who received the Indiana University School of Journalism's Distinguished Alumni Award on September 16, 2011, at a dinner celebrating the 100th anniversary of the journalism program at IU. Photo courtesy of the School of Journalism.