Five Faculty and Staff Members from the College of Fine Arts and Communications Retired This Past Year
Faculty and staff add incredible value to students’ education in the College of Fine Arts and Communications. We want to thank this year’s retirees for their contributions to BYU throughout their time here.
“I express sincere appreciation for our college’s retiring faculty and staff,” said Dean Diane Reich. “These individuals have demonstrated remarkable dedication and hard work throughout their time at BYU. They each leave a lasting impact in their areas and remain an inspiration in the College of Fine Arts and Communications.”
Learn more about the retirees below:
Joel Campbell | School of Communications
Joel Campbell retired after working as an associate teaching professor in Comms Studies at Brigham Young University in the School of Communications. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from Ohio State University. Previously, he worked for nearly 20 years as a reporter and editor for newspapers in Salt Lake City.
At BYU, Campbell taught media writing, journalism principles, media and religion, media ethics and research courses. His research interest was media and religion, but he also researched First Amendment and Freedom of Information research and advocacy.
Steve Thomsen | School of Communications
Steve Thomsen retired after working as a professor and international media studies coordinator in the School of Communications. Thomsen received his doctorate in mass communication from the University of Georgia (1994), his MA in journalism from Ball State University (1984) and his BA in communications from BYU (1982).
He has received national acclaim for his research on media effects and eating disorders. He has been interviewed by the TV Magazine 20/20 and cited in Time Magazine, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and several international media outlets.
Debby Jackson | School of Communications
Debby Jackson is retiring from the School of Communications as the school secretary and graduate programs director. Jackson attended BYU for three years, majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in international relations. She left after her junior year to serve in the Italy Milan mission. After her mission, while working on raising money to return to BYU, she met and married her husband and raised five wonderful children. She finally returned to BYU in 2008 to complete her degree in mass communications.
In 2008, she graduated with one of her sons and took a position with the Department of Theatre and Media Arts as an assistant program director and internship coordinator. The following year, she joined the School of Communications. “My time at BYU has been an amazing experience,” Jackson stated. “I have learned so much, not just about the mechanics of my job but also about the gospel.” She feels that she has embraced BYU’s motto “Enter to Learn; Go Forth to Serve,” and will expand on this motto as she and her husband go on to serve missions.
Don Cook | School of Music
Don Cook is retiring after serving as an organ area coordinator and university carillonneur (a musician who plays the carillon, a musical instrument consisting of at least 23 bells) for 34 years. After earning bachelor and master of music degrees in organ at Brigham Young University, he received a doctor of musical arts degree in organ performance from the University of Kansas. In 2023, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Kansas School of Music.
For many years, he served as head of the instrumental area for the BYU Workshop on Church Music and most recently directed the annual BYU Organ Workshop, founded in 2002. He appears frequently as a guest organist at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.
Cook said that his favorite part about working at BYU was “working with organ students from a great variety of backgrounds — from beginners to advanced musicians and organists.” He said that it is most gratifying to see where they took organ performance post-graduation. “I am also very satisfied with the organ outreach initiatives we have created through the partnership with Marjorie Volkel,” Cook shared. “It has surpassed my wildest dreams to be a part of such a venture!”
Francie Jenson | Dean’s Office
Francie Jenson is retiring after working at BYU for the past 14 years. She has worked in the College of Fine Arts and Communications for nine of those years — the last four as the dean’s administrative assistant. Jenson has a bachelor’s degree in education from Massey University in New Zealand.
“I have absolutely loved working in the Dean’s Office with such incredible people,” Jenson said. She loved being surrounded by the creativity and talent housed in the CFAC. Jenson loved requesting and reading books from the Harold B. Lee library, “and of course all the amazing dance, music and theatre performances I have been able to attend,” she concluded. “This has been the best job.”