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The history of the Newhouse School stretches back 100 years to the Department of Journalism, which was was established in 1919 as part of the new College of Business Administration (now the Whitman School of Management). In 1934, the School of Journalism was founded under Dean Lyle Spencer, with a curriculum dedicated mainly to print media.

That year—the year the FCC wrote the Communications Act that would shape the emerging field of broadcasting for decades to come—Syracuse became the first university in the nation to offer a college credit radio course. In 1947, the University launched WAER, one of the nation’s first college radio stations. And when television emerged in the years following World War II, SU was the first to offer instruction in this fledgling field.

In 1964, supported by a gift from Samuel I. Newhouse, the Newhouse Communications Complex was officially inaugurated in Newhouse 1, the award-winning I.M. Pei building, which housed the School of Journalism. (A year later, the building would be cited as one of the top four honor award winners of the American Institute of Architects.)

In his dedication speech, Mr. Newhouse noted, “It is right and fitting that such a communications center be located within a dynamic university with world-embracing interests. The many fields of study provide an unparalleled opportunity for the interplay of creative talents of the first rank.” President Lyndon B. Johnson joined Mr. Newhouse at the dedication that day in 1964, accepting an honorary degree and delivering the “Gulf of Tonkin Speech” on the Newhouse Plaza. 

Further growth came in 1971 when the School of Journalism merged with the Television and Radio Department, which had been located in the School of Speech and Dramatic Art. This merger marked the birth of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, named in honor of its main benefactor, and prompted the construction of a second building, Newhouse 2, which was dedicated in 1974 with a keynote address by William S. Paley, chairman of the board of CBS. The school became the most comprehensive, stand-alone school of its type in the nation—and remains so today. 

In 2003, the Newhouse School received a $15 million gift from the S.I. Newhouse Foundation and the Newhouse family to fund the construction of the third building in the Newhouse Communications Complex. Newhouse 3 was dedicated on September 19, 2007, with a keynote address from Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts. The event was attended by the sons of S.I. Newhouse, S.I. Newhouse Jr. and Donald Newhouse, and their families. 

Beginning in 2012, supported by lead gifts from the Kari and Dick Clark Foundation (Dick Clark ’51 was a Syracuse alumnus) and Cablevision Industries founder Alan Gerry, Newhouse 2 underwent an $18 million renovation to enhance and expand its studio facilities. Dubbed the Newhouse Studio and Innovation Center, the new space was dedicated in 2014 with special guest Oprah Winfrey.