Keith Bellows, the Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic Traveler will speak in Reeves Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. He will also judge the university’s International Photography Contest. His appearance will mark the third year in a row that UT has welcomed a representative from National Geographic.
In 2007, Steve McCurry showed students “The Eyes of War” with his photos of “the Afghan girl.”
Annie Griffiths Belt, a National Geographic photographer, presented in 2008 while also judging the International Photography Contest.
Traveler, the receiver of over 50 Lowell Thomas awards for excellence in travel journalism has been nominated twice for a National Magazine Award.
Bellows and his team created “journeystreams,” an electronic domain where students can share multimedia stories.
Bellows has been the executive producer of Excite.
At that time Excite was the fifth largest website on the Internet.
He has worked for Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest and was the color commentator for ESPN.
Bellows is the author of The Canuck Book. Currently he is working on 100 Places That Will Change Your Child’s Life.
Born in Congo and schooled in Scotland, he found a passion for world cultures at a very young age.
He believes that travel broadens and adds to humanity.
According to the National Geographic website, Bellows believes that “to create world-ready workers, we must raise world-savvy students.”
He believes travel is the best way to create these students.
Apt in using convergent journalism, Bellows hopes to relay real experiences to audiences around the globe.