Jim McLean
Kansas Historical Foundation
Board of Directors
Elected to board: 2023
Jim McLean is a journalist who has covered Kansas politics and government for more than 40 years. He began his career at KLKC, the radio station in his hometown of Parsons. In 1982 he was named statehouse correspondent for Kansas Public Radio. After a stint as the station’s news director, McLean briefly left journalism to become former Kansas Congressman Jim Slattery’s press secretary and district director. He returned to journalism in 1995 at the Topeka Capital-Journal where he served as business editor and later as managing editor for government coverage.
In 2004 McLean joined the staff of the Kansas Health Institute as vice president for public affairs. While there he started the KHI News Service to provide coverage of health policy issues. He later guided the news organization’s transition to the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of the public radio stations that serve Kansas and the Kansas City metropolitan area. After serving as managing director of the News Service for several years, McLean is now a senior correspondent.
McLean was elected to the Historical Foundation board of directors in 2023.
“After four decades of reporting on the events that have shaped the recent history of our great state, it’s a privilege to contribute to the Foundation’s efforts to showcase that history and animate it for future generations of Kansans,” McLean said.
