When someone enters into DePaul professor Rick Brown’s office, they are met with a wall full of his former students’ headshots. Success is pictured row by row with photos of each of his former students who are now working in the broadcast journalism field. 

“Going back to see my picture up there and him pointing it out and being so happy to show me that he had my picture displayed, telling me how proud he was of me, meant a lot,” La’Nita Brooks, news reporter at KSHB 41 News, said. “It felt like I had made it in a way. I had made him proud, and it made me proud.”

Brown, longtime advisor for Good Day DePaul, is best known for his dry humor and a determination to set students up for success. He will be packing up the portraits and the rest of his office when he retires at the end of the academic year.

“ I’m getting older and I still feel I’m at the top of my game as a teacher,” Brown said, reflecting on why he chose to retire. “I still get good responses from my students, but I didn’t want to really get to a point where I didn’t think I was doing it as well as I should, and so it just seemed to be the right time.”

Brown leads the broadcast world at DePaul with his courses in television news writing, introduction to journalism and multimedia journalism. His students have gone on to work at NBC Chicago, ABC Chicago, WBIR-10 and other stations across the nation. 

Brown’s colleague, DePaul professor Chris Bury, says Brown deeply cares about his students’ personal and professional success.  

“Rick has launched the careers of countless broadcast journalists because he is a great teacher deeply committed to helping his students succeed,” Bury said.

In his classes, Brown tells his students with pride that he has a 100% job placement rate for his students who go into broadcast journalism after graduation. He has a foolproof strategy that he gives his students once they are nearing graduation to guarantee a job that he says requires five skills. 

“ There are five things that will advance your career and let you achieve your goals,” Brown said.  “You’re a great writer. You’re a great reporter. You’re a great story producer. You’re good on air and you’re easy to work with.”

Alyssa Gomez, Brown’s former student who now works at KCCI-TV, said Brown was very attentive during her job search process, staying by her side until she landed a job. 

“He would literally go second by second through my demo reel and give me feedback on every little detail,” Gomez said. “He cares about his students so much. And it’s so funny because he has such a dry sense of humor. He’s just so grandfatherly.”

Rather than molding to the new norms of discussion posts and asynchronous classes, Brown opts for a traditional-style classroom. He makes sure he is available to his students with direct phone calls and emails at any hour. Whether it be 4 a.m. or 9 p.m., Brown is sure to answer on the first ring. 

“ That’s how I approach life,” Brown said. “ I don’t see a reason to just wait a day to get back to somebody. If the phone rings, why shouldn’t I answer it? If someone emails me or texts me, unless I’m really involved in something else, why wouldn’t I respond to them?”

His methods come from his days as a field producer and bureau manager for CBS Chicago, and as a reporter, newscast producer and news director at WITI-TV in Milwaukee. Brown was also a freelancer as a primary field producer for NBC News in New England, later producing for NBC News Chicago.

With a reputation of seriousness and bluntness, Brown isn’t one to over-compliment. He is to the point and thorough when giving feedback on in-class practice live shots or scripts prepared to go on-air. 

Brooks credits his seriousness as coming from a place of love and wanting his students to do their best.

“Rick really helps you,” Brooks said. “And goes beyond what other teachers do to really help you get prepared for the industry and even helping you get your first job with the feedback he gives you.”

Brown will close the door to his office one final time on June 13. But he said his door will never be shut to his current and former students. 

“ I’ve told many of my groups, you’ve got a lifetime contract,” Brown said. “So if they need — if they want to talk, I like it. It’s not like you’re imposing on me. I like that contact with my former students.”

In his retirement, Brown plans to spend the summer riding his bike and reading nonfiction books. His students say this break is well-earned, but bittersweet.

“ I’m gonna miss this big-time,” Brown said. “It’s not something that is easily gonna be replaceable, but I just felt it was time to go. I’ll miss it a lot. It’s just fun for me to do this, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction. ”

Students like Gomez credit Brown for forming them as journalists. 

“ I wouldn’t be half the journalist I am without his classes and his guidance and his insight and his expertise,” Gomez said. “He quite literally just instilled the confidence in me that I needed to pursue this career in the first place.”

The university has not yet selected a successor for Brown, but one will be selected by the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year.

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