Rafael Lorente became dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism on July 1, 2023. Previously, he was the associate dean for academic affairs, director of the master’s program, a senior lecturer, and director of the Capital News Service Washington, D.C., and Annapolis bureaus.

Before joining academia, Lorente, a 1998 Merrill master’s alum, was a journalist at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald, particularly focused on legislative and political matters and higher education. As a reporter in Washington for the Sun Sentinel, he covered the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, the attacks of Sept. 11, and U.S.-Cuba relations.

He serves as vice chair of a national committee for the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications; on the steering committee for the Hearst Journalism Awards Program; on the board of directors for both the Center for Media Integrity of the Americas and the National Press Foundation; and chairs the D.C. Regional Planning Committee for Phillips Academy, Andover. He also recently served on the board of directors for the National Press Club Journalism Institute.