James A. Tidwell, chairman of the Journalism Department at Eastern Illinois University, died Saturday, April 12, following a 19-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 65.

A nationally recognized authority on the First Amendment and the student press, Dr. Tidwell taught communication law to hundreds of students in his 41-year career in higher education, including 27 years at Eastern. He was the author of Media Law in Illinois: A Reporter’s Handbook, among other works on the First Amendment and the press.

Gregarious and outgoing, Dr. Tidwell possessed a keen sense of humor. He was well known and liked at Eastern, where he was a past chairman of the Faculty Senate and the Council on Academic Affairs, and had been a board member of the faculty union, the University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, and had served on the administration’s collective bargaining negotiating team.

Born July 6, 1948 in Oklahoma City to Ray and Maxine Davis Tidwell, he graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Baptist University. He earned his master’s in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and graduated with a Juris Doctor cum laude from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.

He joined the faculty at Eastern in 1987 where he taught every class offered by the journalism department during his tenure and served as legal adviser to student publications.

He served as director of the Eastern Illinois High School Press Association (1988-2005) and as executive secretary of the Illinois Journalism Education Association (1989-2005.)

Dr. Tidwell was a member of Charleston Rotary and the Coles County Barbershop Chorus, taking leadership roles in both organizations. An avid bowler, he bowled in local leagues. He was a faithful fan of EIU Panthers athletic teams and a member of the Panther Club.

He served on the Illinois State Bar Association Standing Committee on Media Law, from 1990–1996, including service as vice chair and co-chair.

He also enjoyed a home on the Gulf Coast in Gulfport, Miss., where he attended The First United Methodist Church and sang in the choir.

Before coming to Eastern, Dr. Tidwell taught as a professor and faculty adviser to the weekly student newspaper at Indiana University Southeast from 1978 to 1987 and advised the weekly student newspaper and taught journalism at Tulsa Community College from 1973–1978.

While at Tulsa Community College, he was removed as an adviser to the student newspaper by the president of the school over a critical article the students published in the newspaper. After hearings into his removal and with the participation of the governor, he was reinstated as adviser. The experience led him to pursue a law degree.

His journalism career included work as the editor of the Okmulgee (Oklahoma) Daily Times and as a sports writer and copy editor of the Oklahoma Journal, a daily newspaper in Oklahoma City. In addition, he worked at Seminole (Oklahoma) Junior College as publicity director and for the Moore (Oklahoma) Monitor as reporter and news editor.

In addition to writing Media Law in Illinois: A Reporter’s Handbook, Dr. Tidwell wrote two chapters in the Handbook of Illinois Administrative Law, 2nd edition (2008) and three chapters in the 2001 edition. He also wrote all four editions of an interactive learning program, the last edition entitled News Scene 4.0 and the Guide to Online Resources for Journalism from Cengage Learning. He wrote countless articles on student press law issues throughout his career.

The Illinois High School Association honored him with a Distinguished Service Award for contributions to the creation and success of statewide high school journalism competitions sponsored annually by the IHSA since 2006.

The College Media Association inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2011 and honored him with the Reid H. Montgomery Distinguished Service Award in 2010. In 1998, the College Media Association honored him with the Louis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award for “extraordinary, long-term contributions in support of the First Amendment.”

Dr. Tidwell was a regular presenter at the College Media Association, the Illinois College Press Association and the Illinois Community College Journalism Association conventions and conferences.

The Scholastic Journalism Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication named him Journalism Educator of the Year in 2008.

The Illinois Journalism Education Association in 2005 honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Journalism Education Association awarded him a Medal of Merit in 2005 in recognition of outstanding contributions to the organization, scholastic journalism and student publications.

His work influenced the lives and careers of numerous students and faculty, communicators and journalists worldwide. His influence has been far-reaching in areas including high school and college journalism and journalism legal issues.

He was preceded in death by his mother Maxine Davis Tidwell, and his grandmother, Mae Owen.

Survivors include his wife, Muriel Everton, also a professor at Eastern, whom he married in 1991; his father, Ray Tidwell, and his stepmother, Bette Chasteen Tidwell, Moore, Okla.; his sister, Phyllis Foree and brother-in-law Roger Foree, Pasadena, Texas.

Services will be Wednesday, April 16 at the First Baptist Church, 2800 University Drive, Charleston, with visitation beginning at 4:30 p.m. and a memorial service at 6 p.m.

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