A Sept. 20 memorial service is planned for Anne W. Nunamaker, a former president of the Washington, DC SPJ professional chapter and a retired Howard University professor. It will be held at 2 p.m. at the Gawler funeral chapel, 5130 Wisconsin Ave. in Northwest D.C.
Nunamaker, a recipient of the chapter’s Distinguished Service Award, died April 10 at Doctors’ Hospital in Lanham, Md., of liver cancer.
She lived in College Park and also was a former president of the Maryland SPJ professional SPJ chapter.
Nunamaker taught journalism for four decades on high school and college levels. She was an associate professor at Howard University from 1983 until her retirement in 2001.
Prior to going to Howard she taught at the University of Maryland and Middle Tennessee State University. Her teaching career started in public schools in Florida and Ohio. Her professional experience included working as a reporter for the Nashville Tennessean and positions at WVIZ public television in Cleveland. She also had worked as a copy editor at The Wall Street Journal. She held degrees from Middle Tennessee State and a doctorate from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.
In 1988-89 she served as president of the Washington SPJ chapter, presiding over the chapter when it received the national best chapter award. In 1999 she received the chapter’s Distinguished Service Award for numerous contributions to the profession as an educator.
At Howard she advised the student SPJ chapter. She was a longtime member of SPJ’s ethics and FOI Committees and interested in the work of the Student Press Law Center. From 1981 to 1983 she was president of Maryland’s professional chapter. She specialized in teaching ethics, copy editing, reporting and writing.