Kelly Furnas teaches multimedia journalism in the School of Communications at Elon University in North Carolina, where he also advises the converged student news media, Elon News Network. He is the former executive director of the national Journalism Education Association, and he currently serves as the association’s global engagement director.
He has received the Pioneer Award from the National Scholastic Press Association, as well as the Medal of Merit and Master Journalism Educator status from JEA. He has a degree in journalism from Kansas State University and a master’s in business administration from Florida State University. He has worked as an editor for newspapers in Las Vegas and Tallahassee, Florida.