Garry Gilbert

Adjunct Instructor of Journalism
Areas of Specialty: Journalism Ethics and Media Editing
Office: 107 East Vandenberg Hall
Phone: (248) 370-2105
Email: [email protected]

Garry J. Gilbert worked in the newspaper industry for 35 years as a reporter and manager. He teaches courses in media ethics and law, story editing, and sports reporting. Gilbert holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in American history from Oakland University. His master’s thesis examined the emergence of conservative newspaper columnists during the 1930s and their coverage of the politics of the Great Depression and the New Deal.

In 1999, Gilbert directed the endowment of a $50,000 Oakland Press Scholarship for Journalism Excellence at his alma mater. He was named winner of the university’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 2000. Gilbert was invited to join the journalism faculty at Michigan State University in 2006 as a visiting editor and lecturer. He returned to Oakland as journalism program director in 2007.

Gilbert is married to Holly Shreve Gilbert, who received her M.A. from Oakland in 2005. Holly is an adjunct instructor of journalism at OU. Together, they created the Holly and Garry Gilbert Endowment for Safeguarding the Public Interest in 2013. 

In 2014, Gilbert earned national and state journalism awards for his published article "Trauma & Triumph" about the science of post-traumatic growth. In 2015, Holly and Garry were named Spirit of Oakland award winners by the OU Alumni Association.

Gilbert is the faculty adviser to OU’s independent student newspaper, The Oakland Post, a long-time season ticket holder for Oakland men’s basketball and a member of the OU Golf & Learning Center. He is a past president of the Michigan Associated Press Editors Association, and a former trustee of the Birmingham Unitarian Church and the Oakland Alumni Association.