Dave Morrow, Reynolds chair, former editor of TheStreet.com, dead at 49

Dave Morrow, the former editor of TheStreet.com who was the Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, died Monday after a monthlong battle with cancer. He was 49.

Morrow was named the first Reynolds chair at the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism in Reno last year. Before that, he had led TheStreet.com for eight years.

“With Dave at the helm, TheStreet.com won five Society of Business Editors and Writers Awards; one Loeb Award, with five nominations in total; two New York Press Club awards, one Webby nomination; two Codie Award nominations, four Online Journalism Award nominations and four awards from the Media Industry Newsletter (min),” according to a tribute at TheStreet.com.

Dave Morrow

At the site, which attracted more than eight million unique visitors a month, Morrow supervised a staff of 65 reporters and editors. Morrow was also on the board of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) and was inducted into the Digital Hall of Fame by the Media Industry Newsletter.

Before coming to TheStreet.com, Morrow was articles editor of SmartMoney magazine and a feature writer there, a business reporter for The New York Times, and a reporter for Fortune magazine. The New York Times wrote an obituary about him. 

TheStreet.com’s current editor, Glenn Hall, posted this tribute to Morrow, as well as one from its commentator, Jim Cramer.

SABEW President Greg McCune said, ”Dave was a pioneer of business journalism on the Web and will be sorely missed.” He said that Morrow’s legacy will be celebrated with a new award in the group’s Best in Business journalism contest.

Jerry Ceppos, dean of the journalism school at the University of Nevada, Reno, said that although Morrow had begun work only in August at the school, “It feels as if Dave had been here for years. His gregarious nature, his enthusiasm and his desire to move quickly made him an important part of the faculty from his first day here.

“My favorite anecdote: In the [school's] proposal for his chair, we said that we’d use this academic year to plan our business program and then begin classes in September 2010. Dave’s reaction: ‘Why in the world would it take a year to plan our courses?’ He posted notes in December [2009] to lure students to his introductory class in business journalism, which he called, ‘Money, Money, Money’ — and the class began a few weeks ago, albeit without Dave.”

Arrangements are incomplete, but Ceppos said notes of condolence can be sent to one of Morrow’s sisters: Beth Hammond, 305 Lake Road, Inman, SC 29349.

As part of the network of Reynolds chairs in business journalism at Arizona State University, Washington and Lee University, the University of Missouri and the University of Nevada, Reno, Morrow also contributed articles to BusinessJournalism.org. Morrow had just begun his work as part of that network, which is coordinated by Andrew Leckey, the chair at Arizona State.

“In just a few short months, Dave Morrow was making his mark as an educator as he had in his illustrious career as a business journalist,” Leckey said. “Dave’s loss is enormous on both a personal and a professional level, and we offer our heartfelt condolences to his UNR family and all those close to him.”