Cindy Royal

Professor and Regents’ Teacher, Texas State University

Cindy Royal is professor and Regents’ Teacher in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University where she spearheaded the launch of the Digital Media Innovation undergraduate degree program and is the director of the Media Innovation Lab. She teaches Web design, interactive coding, mobile development and digital media innovation courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. She completed PhD studies at The University of Texas in 2005. Her students have gone on to digital media careers at The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Houston Chronicle, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, General Motors, Rackspace, Blackbaud, Khoros, Vrbo, South By Southwest, Texas Tribune, USAA, H-E-B Digital and more. Her research addresses the role of programming and data in journalism, the intersection of product management and artificial intelligence in media and the inclusion of digital skills and concepts in media curriculum. In 2013, Cindy was accepted to the Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University to work on CodeActually.com, a platform to teach journalists to code. She has been recognized with several teaching awards, including Teacher of the Year by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication/Scripps Howard, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching at Texas State, Texas State University System Regents’ Teacher and the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award. More information on her background and activities can be found at cindyroyal com.