By Jackie Jou
Correspondent

Tony Fellow, Arcadia resident and director of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, was recently selected as a Fulbright scholar for 2007.

He will be a distinguished lecturer-chair at the University of Piemonte in Milan, Italy, and hold the Vercelli chair of Twentieth Century History of Communications.

Fellow, a former San Gabriel Valley Tribune reporter and editor, is author of "American Media History," and the co-author of "The Copy Editor's Handbook for Newspapers" and "News Writing in a Multimedia World." tHe is also the chair of the Cal State Fullerton Department of Communications and has taught at USC, Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

"If I wasn't a professor, I would've still become a journalist. I love journalism," said Fellow.

Cal State Fullerton officials said the honor brings prominence to their school.

"The Fulbright scholarship is coveted for any professor. It is so well-known that when it's won, it gives visibility and credibility," said Rick Pullen, dean of the College of Communications. "It's something that we're very proud of."

Fellow is the first professor from the College of Communications to be named a Fulbright scholar; he's the first professor of the college to be appointed to the Vercelli chair.

"Tony has a great love for education and for teaching students. He's an exemplary scholar with a strong reputation. And he speaks Italian," said Pullen.

Gail Love, assistant professor in the Department of Communications, said "Tony exhibits the best of America. He's a very engaging, very well- rounded person. He's devoted to his academics, his students, his interests, his politics and his community."

Love had encouraged Fellow to apply for the scholarship a year ago.

As a former El Monte councilman, Fellow's contributions were also felt in the public sphere.

"Tony has a sensitivity that was hard to match. He's an insightful, cerebral, conscientious and warm man," Mayor Ernie Gutierrez said. "If anyone deserves , it would be Tony."

Fellow is an elected director on the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District.

"He's a very giving, generous person with strong leadership skills," said General Manager Tim Jochem.

The Fulbright scholarship was created by Congress in 1946 to promote understanding between the United States and the rest of the world.

The appointments are chosen by a commission appointed by the president. Past Fulbright scholars include heads of state, ambassadors, university presidents, Nobel Prize winners and U.S. presidents. Bill Clinton is the most recent chief executive to have been chosen as a Fulbright scholar.

Outside of his academic commitments, Fellow is an aficionado of Italian language, cinema and culture.

"I want to forge ahead with my relationship with the Italian people and media over there and I'm looking forward to the adventure," he said.