Rick Shaw is director of Pictures of the Year International. POYi's primary mission is to promote the work of photojournalists and foster professional development as a program of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Shaw joined the University of Missouri in 2004 as an assistant professor in the photojournalism sequence and director of photography for The Missourian, the student-produced daily city newspaper.

Shaw's prior newspaper career spans 27 years in visual editing and management. He began as a photojournalist and moved into photo editing, working for newspapers such as The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and The Sacramento Bee for 12 years. At The Bee, he served in a variety of roles including photo editor, assistant director of photography, and an assistant news editor. He was the director of photography and graphics at The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, and in 2001 joined the Hartford Courant as its director of design and graphics.

He has been recognized with several design and picture editing awards, including "Picture Editor of the Year" in POYi and NPPA competitions. The Sacramento Bee and Hartford Courant both have won the Angus McDougall Overall Excellence in Editing Award.

As faculty for The Missourian, Shaw directed the student photo editing staff to two consecutive POYi photo editing portfolio awards, competing against professional newspapers nationwide — a Third Place Editing Portfolio during the 64th annual competition in 2007, and an Award of Excellence Editing Portfolio in 2006.

In 2006, Shaw was named director of POYi by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the photojournalism sequence at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Shaw holds a Master of Arts degree in Journalism, specializing in online visual journalism. His thesis research examined how Web-based news organziations' visual character, or visual personality, affects audience perceptions of credibility.