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Michael Theis

Associate Editor, Photo and Media

What I Do

I work with The Chronicle’s editors, writers, staff multimedia journalists, and freelance artists to produce photo, video, and audio coverage on higher education.

My Background

My current role as a photo and media editor is a return to my roots as a journalist. I am a 2006 graduate of Shepherd University, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. There, my coursework focused on video production and photography. My early career saw me working in photo- and video-production jobs at local TV stations and newspapers.

Before joining The Chronicle in 2021, I was a staff writer at The Chronicle of Philanthropy where I covered America’s Favorite Charities, donor-advised funds, and research on philanthropy, among other topics. Before that, I had a long career in local journalism, covering communities in Maryland, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

My passion is long-form photojournalism. At The Chronicle, I’ve been privileged to focus my lens on such stories as the journeyman life of a college recruiter working in rural Pennsylvania or the struggles of a refugee trying to continue his education in America, among others.

Connect

Email: Michael.Theis@Chronicle.com
Bluesky: @mjtheis.bsky.social
Instagram: MichaelTheisPhoto

Highlights

Daryl Burleigh, a rural recruiter for the University of Pittsburgh, looks on as he administers a mock admissions exercise for students at Mercersburg Academy, a private high school in south-central Pennsylvania.
The Rural Recruiter: Daryl Burleigh’s Road Map for Reaching Students in Far-Flung Corners of Pennsylvania
By Michael Theis, Alexander C. Kafka May 5, 2023
Edris Tajik prepares to usher patrons of the Fisher Center at Bard College during an opera performance in late July 2023. Tajik was an undergraduate student in Herat, Afghanistan, but when the Taliban retook the country in 2021, he fled, upending his school plans. His journey eventually took him to Bard College, in New York, which began operating programs for refugee students in the aftermath of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, when the college took in roughly 300 refugee freedom fighters from that conflict.
Undaunted
By Michael Theis, Graham Vyse September 11, 2023

Recent Stories

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Career Readiness
How One College Helps Students Get Jobs
By Michael Theis, Carmen Mendoza October 31, 2025
Networking can be mysterious and scary. The University of Delaware teaches students how to build connections that support their education and increase career opportunities.
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5 College Students. 5 Views on Generative AI.
By Michael Theis, Carmen Mendoza July 31, 2025
Five college students share how they use generative AI and how they think it will shape higher education’s future.
Professor Amanda Bright and journalism student Avni Trivedi look through stacks issues of The Oglethorpe Echo from the late 19th and early 20th centuries during a tour of the newspaper building at the beginning of the semester.
A College Partnership Saves a Newspaper, Helps a Rural Community, and Prepares Its Students for the Future
By Maura Mahoney, Michael Theis, Graham Vyse November 11, 2024
An innovative partnership at the University of Georgia saved a community newspaper – and gave students a new way to prepare for the work force.
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A Graduate of an Innovative Program Balances Dreams and Uncertainty
By Carmen Mendoza, Michael Theis August 12, 2024
Kal-El Key, a recent graduate of SUNY-Canton’s new esports-management program, hopes to find work in the fast-growing industry. Here’s his story.
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Reaching Rural Students: The STARS Network Hits the Road
By Erica Lusk, Maura Mahoney, Michael Theis June 10, 2024
Our video follows recruiters from The Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network, a partnership of 16 colleges across the country, as they hit the road in the South, looking for learners who might not know about all of their higher-ed options, but have the potential to thrive on campus.
David Billhimer, 18, poses for a portrait on the Midlothian, Virginia, campus of Brightpoint Community College, where he is pursuing an associate degree in business.. He is also enrolled in Great Expectations, a program that helps students who have aged out of foster care succeed in college. David has a keen interest in baking, and dreams of operating his own bakery business one day.
‘It’s Become My Family’: A Foster Child Finds a Home at College
By Michael Anft, Michael Theis March 11, 2024
Through a program that targets students with foster-care backgrounds attending Virginia’s community colleges, David Billhimer has found something like a family of his own at college.
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A Student Thought He Was Different ‘in a Bad Way.’ Now He’s Thriving in College.
By Michael Theis July 17, 2023
How Josh Hansen, a student with learning disabilities, is clearing hurdles in pursuit of a degree.
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In Their Own Words
By Michael Theis March 20, 2023
Two first-generation students describe the multiple challenges and profound losses they’ve faced in college -- and what has helped keep them in school.
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Video
Student Voices on the Value of a Degree
By Luna Laliberte, Carmen Mendoza, Michael Theis December 2, 2022
Students at three colleges answered four questions from The Chronicle. Their answers help bring to light the many complexities involved in deciding if attending college is worth the costs.
Green River College in is one of 17 Washington State community colleges sharing a recent $10-million bequest.
Fund Raising
Washington State’s Community Colleges Get $10 Million From Unexpected Donor
By Michael Theis December 15, 2019
Seventeen campuses will benefit from the estate of a woman who never attended college and whose wealth was little known until after her death, at age 105.
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