Even before Ruby Yuan set foot on campus, he knew what type of education he wanted to get. The journalism major, who will be graduating in 2020, was interested to find the intersection between journalism and technology and he knew USC Annenberg was the place to explore this.

“Three days before I came to Annenberg, I read a piece about Syrian refugees and virtual reality,” Yuan said. “I was like, how cool would that be if I could somehow persuade my school to make a journalism class about VR?”

During the new student assembly that year, Robert Hernandez, associate professor of professional practice, introduced himself and his JOVRNALISM — the “VR” stands for virtual reality — class to the new cohort of undergraduates.

Yuan was hooked — and has been ever since. Yuan, who is also the executive editor of Annenberg Media this year, has been named the first Emerging Technologies Fellow at USC Annenberg, an opportunity funded by the Heeger Brothers’ Fund. The fund was established by USC alumni Robbie Heeger (BA, broadcast and digital journalism, 2012) and Adam Heeger (BA, business administration, 2011). Robbie Heeger took Hernandez’ class while in college, and through this gift, he and his brother wanted to help connect journalism students with the changing technological landscape while increasing awareness of the JOVRNALISM program and power of virtual reality storytelling.

“Ruby embodied what I envisioned for this fellowship: someone who is genuinely passionate about it,” said Hernandez, who is overseeing the gift. “He is phenomenal in terms of his work and his integrity and how he represents Annenberg. He lives and breathes this school to an obsessive level.”

Read the entire profile here: https://annenberg.usc.edu/news/spotlight/journalism-fellow-dives-virtual-reality