June 12, 1915: The UGA Board of Trustees passed a resolution to establish the School of Journalism after a young professor — Steadman V. Sanford — proposed the college to the Board. Professor Sanford ran the school as a one-man affair.
On June 12, 1921, the Board of Trustees suggested Professor Sanford change the name of the School and since that time it has been the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism in honor of the great Georgia journalist who was a UGA graduate in 1868.
On November 24, 1893, the first copy of The Red & Black came off the press after it was founded by five UGA students. The Red & Black was a part of Grady College until it went independent on May 15, 1980.
The first graduate of Grady College was Lamar Trotti in 1920. He served as the editor of The Red & Black and began his career as a writer for The Atlanta Georgian. Trotti became a famous screenwriter and producer for Twentieth Century Fox and won an Academy Award for "Wilson."
In 1922, a second professor was added to Grady College. John Eldridge Drewry was named the Director of Grady College and went on to be the Dean of Students. The Drewry Room on the second floor was named after him.
On March 5, 1927, Grady College sent a copy of its petition for membership in Sigma Delta Chi, an honorary journalistic fraternity within the Society of Professional Journalists, to the Cornell chapter.
In 1928, the Commerce-Journalism Building was established and became the offices of The Red & Black. Commerce-Journalism was later renamed to Brooks Hall.
In 1937, Professor Willett M. Kempten conducted the first European travel seminar, where leading American newspapers and associations, as well as foreign news services and government cooperated.
In the late 1930s, the leaders of Grady College realized a need to train students to become young professionals. Leaders created The Internship Plan, in which prospective journalists worked on getting experience in newspaper and journalistic careers following their junior years.
On August 7, 1940, Dean Drewry gave credit for the suggestion the UGA should administer a similar award to the Pulitzer for radio. He suggested that the broadcasting awards bear the name George Foster Peabody, a distinguished patron and life trustee of UGA.
In 1941, The George Foster Peabody Awards are first presented to six distinguished radio winners. The list includes CBS Radio, NBC Radio, International Short-wave Broadcasters and a personal award for Norman Corwin.
Warren K. Agee became the dean of Grady College in 1969 to succeed long-time dean John E. Drewry. He quadrupled the size of school's photographic laboratories, developed a graphics laboratory and implemented major curriculum changes. He stepped down in 1975.
On May 15, 1980, the student newspaper The Red & Black went independent from Grady College after the student management and the Board of Student Communications wanted to separate the two. Independence was not universally embraced, but The Red & Black still thrives at 540 Baxter Street.
From 1976-1983, Scott M. Cutlip served as the dean of Grady College. He was the co-author of one of the best-selling public relations textbooks ''Effective Public Relations' and is credited with helping establish public relations as a field of academic study.
In 1985, The James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research began operations. The Center has conducted more than 125 training programs involving countries all over the world and published more than 15 research and technical reports.
J. Thomas Russell served as Dean of Grady College from 1983-2000. Since starting work at UGA in 1967, he's seen the Grady College grow from three classrooms equipped with manual typewriters in the Commerce-Journalism Building to the state-of-the-art facility now housed in the journalism building.
Make something work, then make it work better. The New Media Institute was founded in 1999 and explores the critical, commercial and creative dimensions of innovative digital media technology.
From 2001 to 2005, John Soloski served as the dean of Grady College — the fifth dean in the school's history.
In 2007, Grady College added the McGill Symposium to bring together students, faculty and leading journalists to consider what journalistic courage means and how it is exemplified by reporters and editors. The purpose is to advance journalistic courage.
Dean Clark joined Grady College as the dean in 2006 and retired in June 2013. One of his most significant achievements as dean was the acquisition of a commercial television station WNEG.
In September 2012, Grady College established the new sports journalism program, which would be headed by professor Vicki Michaelis. The program directs the college's sports media initiative and is the first of its kind among universities in the Southeastern Conference.
On March 18, 2013, Charles Davis was named the new Dean of Grady College after acting as the facilitator of the Media of the Future Initiative and professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Dean Davis said he places focus on technical skills and create "digital hybrid athletes" that could do more than just write.