Malcolm Moran, the director and Knight Chair of Sports Journalism and Society for Penn State’s John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, is leaving Penn State. Effective in January 1, Moran will assume the role of director of the National Sports Journalism Center located in Indianapolis and associated with the Indiana University School of Journalism.

The National Sports Journalism Center, which was launched by the Indiana School of Journalism in 2009, describes itself as a “comprehensive institute for the study of sports journalism.”

“It will be an honor to direct the National Sports Journalism Center and build upon all the good work that has been done since its launch,” said Moran in a press release.

Moran has worked for esteemed publications like USA Today, Newsday, The New York Times, and Chicago Tribune before joining the faculty at Penn State in 2006. In his sports writing career, Moran has covered 26 bowl games, 26 men’s NCAA Final Fours, 16 World Series, 11 Super Bowls and two Olympic Games.

At Penn State, Moran taught Sports Writing and News Media Ethics while leading the Curley Center, the nation’s first sports journalism center.

In an email addressed to the students of the Curley Center sent out Monday morning, Moran said that much of his reasoning for the career switch is family-oriented. His wife is a graduate of Indiana University and the Moran’s have other family in the Bloomington area.

His email addressed to the Curley Center students went on to say:

It is only because of this unique set of [family] circumstances that I would even consider leaving the place where I have admired your work and watched so many of you grow more accomplished and confident. Many of my former peers in press boxes have marveled at your achievements, particularly in the face of the challenges of the past 12 months. Your work – and the way you have gone about it – has made possible a series of opportunities for students that would have been difficult to imagine when I arrived more than six years ago. In your work for campus media organizations and professional outlets, you have been responsible for the national reputation the Center has achieved, and I will always be grateful for that.

As a member of the Curley Center, I can certainly say that we will miss having Malcolm as a mentor and wish him nothing but the best in Indiana. While I unfortunately never had a class with him (I was scheduled for his sports writing class in the spring), I have heard nothing but praise for his abilities as a writer and as a teacher for all those who aspire to excel in the world of Sports Journalism.

The Curley Center, led by Moran, has been an extremely vital tool for Penn State’s College of Communications, and I’m confident they will find a great successor to lead the Curley Center moving forward.