About
For 15 years, Jim Willis has been a regular visitor to Germany as a guest professor at German universities, an author, a State Department lecturer, and a freelance journalist for The Oklahoman. In November, 1999, Willis covered the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and now he is back covering the 20th anniversary, which takes place on Nov. 9. Willis is an OU grad and began his journalistic career with The Oklahoman. He moved on to The Dallas Morning News and then went to the University of Missouri for his Ph.D. in journalism. He has taught at Missouri, Boston College, OU, and now chairs the Department of Communication Studies at California’s Azusa Pacific University. He has authored 11 books on the media and co-authored a 2003 book on OU football, Prelude to Greatness. His next book appears in December and is called, 100 Media Moments That Changed America. Willis believes the fall of the Berlin Wall is one of the most significant events in the history of modern Europe. Not only did its collapse reunify East and West Germany into one nation, but it also signaled the end of European communism as a threat to the free world. Watch for his daily posts and photos on The Berlin Wall blog, starting Nov. 1 and running through Nov. 13.
