Richard Musser

A celebration of life for Richard Sherman (‘Rick’) Musser will be held Saturday, Nov. 14th from 2-5 p.m. at the Jayhawk Welcome Center at Adams Alumni Center, 1266 Oread Ave. Friends and former students are welcome and are encouraged to RSVP at https://bit.ly/RickMusser

Dr. Musser, 79, died on June 28, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn., with his wife, Denise, at his side.

Rick grew up in Indiana, moving often while his father worked for the telephone company. As a child, he enjoyed school, Boy Scouts, and playing the French horn. He worked a range of odd jobs as a teenager, his favorite being at the zoo, where he sold frozen smelt to feed the penguins.

He received his undergraduate degree from DePauw University in 1969, where he spent his junior year studying at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He earned his Doctorate of Mass Communications from Indiana University Bloomington in 1978.

In 1974, he moved to Lawrence, Kan., where he was a tenured professor of journalism at the University of Kansas (KU). He valued truth-telling and saw journalism as a tool to uphold democracy, challenge authority, and give voice to the voiceless. Rick mentored generations of students at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, in the classroom and as the faculty advisor to the University Daily Kansan. Known there as ‘Uncle Rick,’ he taught students to make a difference in the world, watch out for BS, and take care of themselves. He encouraged students to be discerning, ask probing questions, write in active voice, and tell compelling stories about real people. Like one of his favorite authors, Ernest Hemingway, he told it straight and kept it short.

While at KU, he taught a semester at the Consortium of Universities for International Business Studies in Paderno del Grappa, Italy, and he and Denise loved traveling around the country. He was also active in the professional world throughout his career, serving stints at the Kansas City Star, American City Business Journals, the Wichita Eagle, WGN in Chicago, Omaha World-Herald, and at the Turtle Mountain Times in Belcourt, North Dakota.

Rick cared deeply about his students and remembered details about their lives over the decades. He advocated for critical thinking and provided insightful feedback on their reporting and writing. His students have successfully practiced at local, national, and international news outlets, some winning awards for their reporting, including the Pulitzer Prize.

He was named the Clyde Reed Teaching Professor and won multiple awards for his teaching, including the Katich Creativity Award (2006), the W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence (2000) and the Amoco Foundation Award for Outstanding Classroom Teaching (1986). Many of his students remember specific lectures that influenced them – like the one where he introduced an ethical dilemma and used a lit match to time the students' decision.

Recognizing the evolving industry, Rick helped pioneer KU's multimedia newsroom in the 2000s, teaching students how to report online and integrate video and audio into their story packages. He retired from the University of Kansas in 2008, after a 34-year career.

Rick loved being in nature and especially loved the landscape of Minnesota, where he spent many summers. In 2008, he and Denise moved to Rochester, Minn., and eventually settled in the Twin Cities. This was a dream realized for Rick; he appreciated the natural beauty of the state, even in -40 degrees. Rick was involved in the community, giving walking tours, serving as a master naturalist, and editing a local history book. The book, ‘A People's History of the Seward Neighborhood,’ won two awards, including the national Award of Excellence from the American Association for State and Local History (2019).

Rick was known for his dapper fashion and was often the best dressed in the room. He had a sense of humor and kept family and friends rolling in laughter. He was warm and generous, and deeply genuine. He loved building model airplanes, history, reading epic works of nonfiction, swimming, canoeing, hiking, and exploring Lake Superior's North Shore.

Rick was born in 1947 in Fort Wayne, Ind., to Eleanor (May) and Richard S. Musser. He had three children with his first wife, Brenda Gadd: Noah, Liz, and Ben. In 1995, he married Denise Casamento Musser. They supported each other happily for three decades, and Rick welcomed and loved his stepdaughters, Katie and Carolyn.

Rick is survived by his wife of 31 years, Denise; five children: Noah (Virginia) Musser; Liz (Eric) Weslander; Ben (Beth) Musser; Katie Tharp (Alex); Carolyn Tharp (Barry); and six grandchildren: Julian Weslander; Maya Weslander; Owen Musser; Kellar Musser; and Nico and Elias. He is also survived by sister Martha (Dave) Hannah, and brother Jeff (Jana) Musser.

Those wishing to honor Rick's memory and life's work may donate to the Rick Musser Multimedia Scholarship at KU's journalism school or Our Lady of Peace Hospice in St. Paul, Minn.