News Brief: Coro Honors Carnegie Mellon's Jim Daniels for Values-Based Leadership

Contact: Shilo Rea / 412-268-6094 / shilo@cmu.edu
     
PITTSBURGH—Coro Pittsburgh will honor Carnegie Mellon University English Professor Jim Daniels for his "values-based leadership in the service of an inclusive community" at the organization's 2014 Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Awards. Daniels, the Thomas Stockham Baker Professor of English, will be one of nine individuals recognized at the Jan. 24, 2014, event.

"Values-based leadership is all about aligning your leadership with a higher purpose," said Greg Crowley, president and CEO of the local Coro Center for Civic Leadership. "It's a kind of leadership that we seek to inspire in people — and that is also inspired by the leadership of Martin Luther King."

An award-winning poet, author and screenwriter, Daniels founded Carnegie Mellon's Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Awards 15 years ago to encourage Pittsburgh-area high school and college students to explore their personal connections with race and discrimination. Through the awards — given in both poetry and prose categories — Daniels has helped adolescents and young adults think about King and race in the context of their own lives. The topic is one that has resonated with local students because Daniels receives nearly 200 entries each year.

In her letter nominating Daniels, Pittsburgh CAPA teacher Mara Cregan wrote, "Jim's efforts have allowed students from the area to express their personal stories with race and difference ... his work has been crucial in opening these lines of communication for local students and promotes tolerance and acceptance for all."

Daniels has been on the CMU faculty since 1981. He recently published his 14th collection of poetry, "Birth Marks." He has published four books of short stories and has written three films, including 2010's "Mr. Pleasant," which appeared in more than a dozen film festivals across the country.

For more information on Coro's Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Awards, visit http://www.coropittsburgh.org/martin-luther-king-jr-leadership-awards-and-celebration-2014/.

To learn more about Daniels, visit http://www.cmu.edu/hss/english/people/faculty/bios/jim-daniels.html.

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An award-winning poet, author and screenwriter, Jim Daniels (pictured above) founded Carnegie Mellon's Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Awards 15 years ago to encourage Pittsburgh-area high school and college students to explore their personal connections with race and discrimination.