Educational experience: undergraduate and master's degrees from Drake's School of Journalism and Mass Communication; doctor of jurisprudence from Drake Law School in spring 2002.

Kathleen Richardson worked at The Des Moines Register for 20 years in a variety of newsroom jobs: copy editor and copy desk chief, wire editor, news editor, features editor, book reviewer and columnist.

After leaving the Register to return to school, she also worked for several years with Dr. Herb Strentz on the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a non-profit organization that promotes open government and is headquartered in the SJMC. She succeeded Strentz as executive secretary of the organization in 2000. In that role, she produces educational materials on the state's open meetings and records laws, conducts workshops and answers citizens' and journalists' inquiries on the Council "hotline."

Richardson's professional interests include journalism law, especially cyberspace and the law, freedom of information issues and journalism ethics. She teaches communications law and news writing classes.