Elaine Rivera, a member of the faculty in the Journalism, Communication, and Theatre Department, passed on October 26. She was 54. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, December 7 at 1 p.m. in Lehman’s Lovinger Theatre.

Rivera joined the faculty at Lehman College in 2009 as a substitute lecturer, bringing nearly thirty years of experience at top news organizations around the country, including Timemagazine, the Washington Post, and WNYC Radio. One year after joining Lehman, she was promoted to the rank of Distinguished Lecturer. Her experience covering Spanish-speaking urban communities, her national reputation, and her manifold connections in the New York media industry made her a valuable resource in helping students find career opportunities and in recruiting new students to the profession.

She also oversaw the conversion of the Bronx Journal from a print to a multimedia format,which won the City University of New York’s 2011 Murray Kempton Award for Journalism in the ‘Best Web Publication’ category. Rivera continued to serve as co-editor of the Bronx Journal.