Charles R. Eisendrath ’75 has been the director of the Knight-Wallace Fellows at Michigan since 1985. After reporting briefly for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he joined the Baltimore Evening Sun, and then Time Magazine, which posted him in Washington, London, Paris and Buenos Aires, where he was bureau chief. In 1974 Charles Eisendrath came to the University as a journalism Fellow and after his Fellowship stayed to run the Journalism Master’s Program. His articles and comments on media topics have appeared frequently in publications such as the New York Times, Newsday, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, International Herald Tribune and European Wall Street Journal as well as NPR's "All Things Considered," ABC's "Good Morning America" and Michigan Public Radio. His academic writing and television work include The World Press Encyclopedia, Columbia Journalism Review, Journal of Contemporary French Civilization and two five-part educational television series: "City Desk" and "Foreign Assignment: USA." Charles is the founding director of the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists, the largest all-media, general reporting prizes in the country, and chairs the American Board of the International Press Institute, IPI.
Birgit Rieck has been managing the Knight-Wallace Fellows program since May 2004 and plans the Fellowship’s daily activities and news tours. Until 2004 she administered the Livingston Awards and planned conferences and special events for the program. Birgit received a Master's Degree in Cultural Anthropology and Education from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. She also completed a two-year management training with InterContinental Hotels Group in London. Before coming to the United States she was a reporter and host for “Stadtradio Karlsruhe,” one of the first privately owned radio stations in Germany.
Candice Liepa administers The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists and plans conferences and special events for the Knight-Wallace Fellows. Before moving to Michigan, she worked as a television news reporter, producer, and news director in California, Iowa, Idaho and Texas. While in Texas, she also taught broadcast journalism at the University of North Texas. She planned ceremonial events at U-M’s office of University and Development Events before coming to Wallace House in November 2005.
Mary Ellen Doty has managed the finances at Wallace House since August 2003. She also assists Charles in his position as the chairman of the International Press Institute North American Committee. Before coming to Wallace House, Mary Ellen was the office manage for The Housing Bureau for Seniors in Ann Arbor. She did accounting for the Daniel L. Bowers Co. in Rochester Hills, MI before moving to Ann Arbor in 1999. Mary Ellen has a BA in Social Work from the University of Michigan and took Masters Classes in Accountancy at Walsh College in Troy, MI.
Patricia Meyers-Wilkens has been the office manager for Wallace House and executive secretary to Charles Eisendrath since October 2007. Before coming to the University of Michigan, she worked for a weekly newspaper for 10 years as both a reporter and editor. Originally from New York and a graduate of Rutgers University, a job transfer brought her and her family to Michigan in 1987. She currently resides in a little log cabin on the lake in the Irish Hills area.
