Nan Fairley currently works as an associate professor of journalism in the Auburn University Department of Communication and Journalism.  She teaches a variety of courses ranging from news writing to newspaper management in the Auburn journalism program, where she has been teaching since 1992.  She brings more than 10 years of professional experience in journalism into the classroom. Fairley worked for a variety of newspapers from Boca Raton to Meridian, Mississippi.  One of her earliest and most valuable stints was as editor of the now-deceased community weekly, The Boaz News, in North Alabama.  She has since placed a high value on community newspaper experience, a value that she tries to pass along to her Auburn students.

She is the founder and faculty coordinator of Auburn University’s High School Summer Journalism Workshop. Fairley served as Director of AU Journalism for two years through 2003 and is now concentrating on efforts to expand outreach programs such as the Tiger/Cub mentoring project that she helped initiate in 2003. Research and writing interests focus on journalism history and community journalism. She received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Alabama in 1988 and completed her undergraduate education at Mississippi University for Women.