Dan Morrison has had 40 years of experience as a professional photojournalist and writer/reporter, including nearly 30 years before joining the SOJC as a full-time instructor in 2009. His photographs and stories have been published in numerous elite venues including Austin American Statesman, Time magazine, Discovery Channel Magazine, Backpacker Magazine, the New York Times, and the New York Post. Significantly, for many years he was a stringer for the Associated Press, meaning his work was published in high profile media outlets globally. His photojournalism has taken him to the frontlines of war zones such as: the Israeli Defense Forces invasion of southern Lebanon; the Sandinista-Contra conflict in Nicaragua; civil war in El Salvador; border conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon; and the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Eight pages of global and national assignments are detailed on his CV, e.g., a Mount Everest expedition, elephant tracking in Kenya, kayaking in the Baltic Sea, a shuttle launch in Florida, climbing frozen waterfalls in Colorado, tornado chasers in the Midwest, and alligator hunting in Louisiana. He has received major awards for his work, including from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, which honors outstanding work in travel journalism. He has continued to practice photojournalism for local, national, and international news venues since he joined the University of Oregon, for instance, for KVAL and KMTR. Some of his work has been distributed nationally and globally, recently his coverage of a Proud Boys parade and of wildfires in Oregon. 

His teaching spans large lecture classes such as SOJC’s required Gateway multimedia series and small intensive lab classes such as Photojournalism. Additionally, he regularly mentors students by including them as he covers local news, both breaking news events and high school and UO sports. He routinely goes above and beyond all expectations to engage with students, for instance meeting outdoors with photojournalism students during the pandemic. He has had a transformative impact on many of his students and their subsequent success as photojournalists. This video featuring interviews with alums captures Morrison’s lasting influence: https://vimeo.com/669717385/243d52ec10.