John Affleck

Writer-in-Residence in Culture, Advocacy and Leadership

John Affleck is a journalist and academic. He worked for The Associated Press for 22 years, the majority of it as a national manager in news and sports. He led high-level reporting teams and covered everything from the Olympics and the World Cup to the selection of the pope and the Iraq War from Baghdad. In 2013, Affleck was recruited by Penn State to become the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society. During his tenure, the program doubled in size as students won all manner of national awards and covered everything from the Super Bowl to the Paralympics and World Cup. In 2022, he took on the added duty of Department Head for Journalism, leading Penn State to a national title in writing in the highly regarded Hearst Journalism Awards.