Ed Weston has spent 42 years teaching UF students about words, but maybe the story of his career is best told in numbers.
When Weston retires at the end of this semester, his records show he’ll have taught 156 sections of Public Affairs Reporting, 99 sections of Reporting, 39 sections of writing for mass communications and nine sections of Fact Finding, among others.
“I like working with individual students,” he said. “It’s really kind of fun.”
But Weston, 66, didn’t start out with professorial goals — even while earning his master’s degree at Northwestern University, he said, “It was pretty clear to me I didn’t want to teach.”
Weston was an editor at the Omaha World-Herald when UF’s Robert Simmons asked him to join the faculty at UF’s College of Journalism and Communications, and he did so in 1970.
Since then, Weston has spent a majority of his time as a lab instructor, doing hands-on exercises with journalism students, including conducting Applied Journalism classes at The Gainesville Sun.
“You get these bright, hardworking, creative folks, and they just need a few tools,” Weston said. “Then, you kind of get out of their way and see what they build with them. And I think that’s really neat.”
Department of Journalism chair Wayne Wanta said Weston “has been an institution” at the college, noting his consistency and value as a faculty member.
“I wish I could keep him for another 40 years,” Wanta said.
Though he said he’ll miss the students and faculty members, Weston is looking forward to spending time with his family, including his granddaughters, Caitlyn and Emma, and attending Gators baseball games. He also plans to travel with his wife, Jean, who has already booked three cruises.
Contact Julia Glum at jglum@alligator.org.
Ed Weston, front row, far right, stands with students of an Applied Journalism class at The Gainesville Sun in the Spring quarter of 1975.
