Education
Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Master of Theology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.
Bachelor of Arts, Stetson University, (DeLand, Florida), 1969
Books
Sumner, David E. The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900 (New York: Peter Lang USA, 2010).
Sumner, David E. and Holly G. Miller. Action, Angles and Anecdotes: Feature and Magazine Writing, 2nd ed. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).
Sumner, David E. and Shirrel Rhoades Magazine: A Complete Guide to the Industry (New York: Peter Lang USA, 2006)
Sumner, David E. Graduate Programs in Journalism and Mass Communication (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1996).
Research Interests
Magazine industry management and economics
20th century American magazine history
Feature and magazine writing
David E. Sumner has achieved distinction in journalism education as author or co-author of five books while building one of the nation's 20 magazine journalism programs recognized by Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management. He is currently professor of journalism and coordinator of the magazine journalism major in the Department of Journalism at Ball State University, a position he has held since 1990. He teaches courses in magazine writing, advanced magazine writing, magazine management, interviewing, and opinion writing. His website, www.professormagazine.com, contains feature writing tips and advice as well as resources to help his students find internships and jobs.
In May 2012, he will be presenting a paper at the International Conference on Communication, Media, Technology and Design in Istanbul, Turkey, and in teaching three workshops at the Oregon Christian Writers Conference in August.
He and co-author Holly G. Miller are currently working on the third edition of Feature and Magazine Writing: Action, Angle and Anecdotes first published in 2005 by Wiley-Blackwell. This textbook has been adopted by more than 50 American colleges and universities as well as some in other English-speaking countries. The third edition will be published in 2012.
He published his fifth book, The Magazine Century: American Magazines in 20th Century, in June 2010. This book has received positive reviews in six academic journals.A review in Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries cited the book as “A valuable contribution to the field of mass media studies and a wonderful resource for researchers.”
Sumner received the 2007 Magazine Educator of the Year Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication at a ceremony in Washington, DC, on Aug. 10. Sumner wrote articles for the Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year from 1989 to 2007. More than 300 of his articles have appeared in dozens of consumer magazines and scholarly journals, such as the Journalism Quarterly, Wall Street Journal, Indianapolis Monthly, Georgia Historical Quarterly, Journal of American History, Kiwanis Magazine, Editor and Publisher, Journal of Advertising Research, the Indianapolis Star and other Indiana newspapers.
David E. Sumner is married to Elise Carr Sumner, a Spanish instructor at Ivy Tech State College and graduate of Purdue University and New York University.