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1960-69

Bill Gay, BJ '68, and his wife, Sue, own and operate Reliance Public Relations, Inc. in El Centro, Calif. Reliance handles public relations for a variety of public agencies and private businesses in the Southern California desert region. Gay opened the firm in 1997 after a 25-year career in daily newspapers and a concurrent career as a Naval Reserve public affairs officer.  Updated: May 6, 2008

For the past 37 years, Mark Hall, MA '67, has been an instructor in the radio/TV/film program at Butte College in Oroville, Calif., about 90 miles north of Sacramento.  Added: May 5, 2008

Pat Lincoln Spence, BJ '68, during her gig as "back door security" at a recent Willie Nelson concert at the unversity.

Pat Lincoln Spence, BJ '68, is in her 22nd year as director of student publications at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas. She advises the twice-weekly campus newspaper, The Pine Log, and the yearbook. Spence also teaches advanced newswriting and makes daily use of the lessons she learned in J-School (for example, if you're going to use the word "very," you may as well say "damn").  Added: March 19, 2008

Pam Hanlon, BJ '68, is the author of Manhattan's Turtle Bay, a just-published book that tells the story of the past half-century of this East Midtown neighborhood in New York. Hanlon, who has lived in Turtle Bay since 1976, shares how the neighborhood recognized its role at the center of the world's diplomatic stage and adjusted to life amid the gleaming high-rise towers all around.  Added: Feb. 19, 2008

Lew Morrissey, BJ '66, retired from the University of Michigan in 2004 and now lives in Punta Gorda, Fla. He was the university's director of state outreach and freedom of information officer. Prior to joining the university, Morrissey spent more than 20 years at the Flint (Mich.) Journal, where he served as a reporter, editorial page editor and metro editor. Morrissey is a contributing writer to a southwest Florida magazine called Harbor Style and teaches workshops for a local writers' organization.  Added: Feb. 18, 2008

Sue (Jackson) Pondrom, BJ '68, standing in the Arctic Ocean, Barrow, Alaska, June 2007.

Sue (Jackson) Pondrom, BJ '68, is a freelance medical writer in San Diego, where she writes Web page content for the University of California San Diego Cancer Center and news articles for publications such as The Rheumatologist, Neurology Today and ENToday. In addition, Pondrom is the special section editor of The AJT Report in the American Journal of Transplantation and editor of a monthly column, In This Issue, in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.  Updated: Feb. 15, 2008

Nancy (Simon) Giges, BJ '68

Nancy (Simon) Giges, BJ '68, is the founder and president of Brookdale Associates, a marketing communications consulting firm, in White Plains, N.Y. She opened the virtual firm that offers a variety of writing, editorial and consulting services after 25 years in international business journalism and having more than 3,000 articles appear under her byline. Giges is co-author (with Gary Burandt, BJ '66) of Moscow Meets Madison Avenue, the Adventures of the First American Adman in the U.S.S.R.  Added: Feb. 14, 2008

Linda (Mahoney) Shipley, MA '69, is the associate dean and William H. Kearns Professor of Advertising at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications. She worked in advertising/marketing in St. Louis and New York before becoming an advertising faculty member at the Missouri School of Journalism from 1974-1984. Shipley's husband, Mike, was a graduate student at the School in 1967-1968 and a member of the Probability Seminar from 1974-1984.  Added: Feb. 14, 2008

Martha Houx Singer, BJ '63, is a freelance writer and consultant after retiring from the Automobile Club of Southern California as associate research manager, competitive analysis. She earned an MBA from the University of Southern California in 1980. Before joining the Auto Club staff, Singer was a promotion manager for two Caterpillar dealerships, director of research for a small business consultant and an analyst in marketing research for the Los Angeles Times.  Added: Feb. 14, 2008

Edward M. Lee, BJ '67

Edward M. Lee, BJ '67, is retired, living in Rhinelander, Wis., and Forest Park, Ill., and currently is assisting in coordinating a 1967 class reunion to be held during the School's centennial celebration in September. After graduating from the School, Lee joined the Chicago Tribune as a general assignment reporter and subsequently served as criminal courts correspondent, assistant city editor and business/financial writer and columnist. In 1975, he joined the Chicago Board of Trade as director of communications and in 1980 returned to journalism as editorial director and associate publisher of Commodities magazine, later named Futures. From 1982 through 1986, Lee was editorial director of Gorman Publishing Co., a business-to-business publishing company. In 1987, he co-founded Modern Baking magazine, later followed by Convenience Store Decisions and Baking Management magazines. Lee and his partners sold their company in 1998 to Penton Media. He joined Penton and was publisher of Modern Baking when he retired in 2004. Lee's many awards include the American Business Media Jesse H. Neal Award for Editorial Excellence and a first place in feature writing from the American Society of Business Press Editors.  Added: Feb. 14, 2008

John Woolson, BJ '61, retired as editor/publisher of the Clarinda (Iowa) Herald Journal and owner of Clarinda Printing & Graphics. He is now executive director of the Clarinda Community Foundation.  Added: Feb. 14, 2008

Jack Briggs, BJ '61, is the third of four generations of Missouri School of Journalism graduates. His grandfather, Frank Briggs, BJ '15, was a recipient of the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism in 1958. His father, Tom Briggs, BJ '39, was on the board of the Columbia Missourian. His son, Jeff Briggs, is a 1983 graduate of the School.  Added: Jan. 16, 2008

Jeff Gorman, BJ '65, is the founder and CEO of Vidigreet, an online video greeting company. He is an award-winning copywriter and creative director in the advertising industry. Gorman created Nike's first consumer advertising campaign and its first TV commercial for the 1984 Olympics, in addition to writing Michael Jordan's first TV ads. He has produced and directed commercials for many leading companies, such as Lexus, Little Caesars Pizza, Staples, Bud Light and more. Gorman has won several industry awards for his work, including Clios and Cannes Lion awards.  Added: Jan. 2, 2008

Russ Cannon, BJ '69, is the publisher of the Rio Rancho (N.M.) Observer. Previously, he managed newspapers in Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, California and Nevada. Cannon joined Wick Communications, owner of The Observer, in April 2002 as publisher of the Las Vegas Press. He took over the Capital Journal in Pierre, S.D., in October 2005 when Wick purchased the paper.  Added: Jan. 2, 2008

Steven R. Brown, BJ '61, MA '63

Steven R. Brown, BJ '61, MA '63, is in his 41st year of teaching in the political science department at Kent State University. He has authored 100 scholarly papers and chapters and is past editor of the journals Policy Sciences and Operant Subjectivity. Brown was the recipient of the 2001 Kappa Tau Alpha outstanding service award for contributions to journalism and mass communication. He is the former executive director of the International Society of Political Psychology and has lectured widely in Canada, Europe, Turkey, Peru, Taiwan and Thailand. Brown now spends much of his time with his wife and their adopted 2-year-old great-granddaughter.  Added: Dec. 13, 2007

Len Ziehm, BJ '65, is a 38-year veteran with the Chicago Sun-Times sports department. In 2004, he was named to the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame. He is also the recipient of the Chicago Area Runners Association Award for journalism.  Added: Dec. 13, 2007

Michael Fleischmann, BJ '68

Steve Kopcha, BJ '63

Michael Fleischmann, BJ '68, has been working at NBC Artworks in New York since 1984. He has created weather animations for Al Roker and is now doing various graphics and animations for the Today Show. Fleischmann's first job out of college was doing graphics and animations for Chromalloy in Clayton, Mo. He was hired in 1978 by IF Studios in New York to help create animated spots for commercials and promotional films. He married Gaby Katz of Mexico City in 1989, and they have two daughters "who are both doing great things in high school and out," Fleischmann said. He continued, "I have no intention to retire in the near future, as you might guess."  Added: Dec. 13, 2007

Steve Kopcha, BJ '63, has been teaching at the Missouri School of Journalism for seven years, following a 30-year career in the advertising business at the St. Louis, New York and Detroit offices of D'Arcy. He also spent five years at McCann-Erickson in Detroit.  Added: Dec. 13, 2007

Bill Tammeus, BJ '67

Bill Tammeus, BJ '67, is a Faith section columnist for The Kansas City Star. He is currently working with a Kansas City rabbi on a book about Jews in Poland who survived the Holocaust with help from non-Jews. Tammeus formally retired from The Star in 2006 but continues to write his weekly Faith section column on a freelance basis. He also does a daily blog, "Faith Matters," at http://billtammeus.typepad.com.  Added: Dec. 13, 2007

Barry Fitzgerald, BJ '66, who traveled the world as a photographer for the U.S. Information Agency, died of cancer Sept. 1, 2007, at his home in Fredericksburg, Va. Fitzgerald worked for the USIA from 1984 until his retirement in April 2007. His assignment was to provide pictures of Americans at work and play that would help tell America's story to the world. He traveled throughout the United States and to India, Pakistan, Central America, Mexico, Africa and China. After graduating from the Missouri School of Journalism, Fitzgerald and his wife, Ruth Coder Fitzgerald, BJ '66, served as Peace Corps volunteers in the Philippines, teaching elementary school and helping to start a community newspaper in the town of Aparri. After the Peace Corps, Fitzgerald went to work as a reporter and photographer at Fredericksburg's daily newspaper, The Free Lance-Star. He soon moved up to full-time photographer and later became chief photographer. During his time at the newspaper, Fitzgerald's work earned him numerous awards from professional groups, including the Associated Press, the Virginia Press Association, Pictures of the Year competition and several others. In 1976, he left the newspaper to work as a freelance photographer, a job he held until he joined USIA.  Added: Oct. 1, 2007

Tad Bartimus, BJ '69, will present a Sept. 11 lecture, "We Are the Heroines of Our Own Stories," in honor of the 20th anniversary of the National Women & Media Collection at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection in Columbia, Mo. Bartimus writes Among Friends, a commentary distributed by United Features Syndicate, and Elsewhere in America, distributed by eons.com. She has been a contributor to MSNBC.com and NPR, and she has co-authored five books, including Requiem with Horst Faas and David Halberstam, and War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam. Bartimus was the first woman appointed by The Associated Press to be a U.S. bureau chief in 1975, and she was named The AP's first female special correspondent in 1990. She received the Missouri Honor Medal in 1990. Bartimus lives in Hawaii with her husband, Dean Wariner.  Added: Aug. 30, 2007

Rick Hummel, BJ '68	Rick Hummel receives the BWAA's J.G. Taylor Spink Award.

Rick Hummel, BJ '68, was inducted into the writer's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 29, 2007, as the recipient of the 2006 J.G. Taylor Spink Award. The award, named after the late editor of The Sporting News, has been voted upon annually since 1962 by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The award honors a baseball writer "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and is presented at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The baseball columnist for the St. Louis (Mo.) Post-Dispatch, Hummel has reported on the Cardinals since 1973. His 35 years at the paper include 24 as lead beat writer and five as columnist.  Updated: July 31, 2007

Fred Nuesch, MA '62, has been a part-time coordinator of athletic external affairs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (formerly Texas A&I University) since 2003, when he retired after 35 years as the assistant athletic director for media relations. He edits a tabloid newspaper for the athletic department that is published 52 weeks a year and is widely distributed. Nuesch has been inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame, TAMUK Javelina Hall of Fame, NAIA Hall of Fame and Paris Junior College Hall of Fame. Additionally, he has been named a Distinguished Alumnus at Henderson State University in Arkansas. Nuesch has received the Arch Ward Award (Sports Information Director of the Year), the Warren Berg Award (College Division Sports Information Director of the Year) and the Distinguished Service Award from the College Sports Information Directors of America. He was the night manager of the main press center at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Calif., and has been a press coordinator at the World University Games, Goodwill Games and Olympic Sports Festivals. "Having a journalism degree from the University of Missouri has proven invaluable to me throughout my career," Nuesch said. "The school provided me with a tremendous journalism education, and the reputation of the Mizzou J-School has afforded me many opportunities, for which I am very appreciative."  Added: July 23, 2007

Sanford Josephson, BJ '63

Sanford (Sandy) Josephson, BJ '63, is director of marketing and public relations for the Matheny Medical and Educational Center, a special hospital and special education school in Peapack, N.J., for children and adults with medically complex developmental disabilities. He is also a member of the board of directors of the New Jersey Advertising Club and the Healthcare Planning & Marketing Society of New Jersey. Prior to joining Matheny in 2002, Josephson spent 14 years as executive director and vice president of marketing at the New York Market Radio Broadcasters Association. At Missouri, he spent the fall of his senior year as one of three hosts of "Today in Mid-Missouri" on KOMU-TV, and during his sophomore year he was sports editor of The Maneater.  Added: July 23, 2007

Richard Liefer, BJ '68, retired after 27 years at the Chicago Tribune. During his career there he was an editor in the foreign/national news department, an editorial writer and op-ed page editor. Earlier, Liefer spent about five years on the editorial page staff of the Des Moines (Iowa) Register.  Added: July 23, 2007

Bob Finot, BJ '68, is a sales manager/account manager at WIL-AM in St. Louis, Mo.  Added: July 23, 2007

Karen (Daigle) Schickedanz, BJ '68

Karen (Daigle) Schickedanz, BJ '68, has been happily retired in Tucson, Ariz., since 2001. She most recently was director of corporate communications for Advocate Health Care, the largest health care system in the Chicago, Ill., area. Previously, Schickedanz was a financial news reporter and local desk copy editor for the Chicago Tribune. She currently does part-time freelance writing and marketing for a number of clients around the country.  Added: July 23, 2007

Juan J. Walte, BJ '64, retired from USA TODAY in March 2003 and recently moved from Alexandria, Va., to Boynton Beach, Fla., located in South Florida's Palm Beach County. He lived in the Washington, D.C. area from 1969 through 2006. Walte keeps busy by translating (English-Spanish), editing and proof-reading for AARP, and occasionally contributing commentaries to a Spanish-language blog in his native El Salvador.  Added: July 23, 2007

Michael Gross, BJ '69, owns an appellate law practice in St. Louis, Mo.  Added: July 18, 2007

Tom Danbury, BJ '58, MA '61, co-founder of Survey Sampling International (SSI), died July 11 at age 71. He founded SSI, the first commercial market research sampling company, with Beverly Weiman in 1977. Prior to founding SSI, Danbury was the director of marketing research at Donnelley's Marketing Information Center from 1972 to 1977. From 1966 to 1972, he was a vice president and associate research director at Foote, Cone and Belding. Danbury was a faculty member at the Communications Research Center at Michigan State University from 1961 to 1966. Prior to joining the faculty at Michigan State, he was a doctoral student at the School under Professor William Stephenson, founder of Q Methodology. Danbury lived in Westport, Conn., from 1969 until his retirement in 1992. After retirement, he and his wife, Rosalie, lived in Kilauea, Hawaii.  Added: July 17, 2007

Bob Lewis, MA '66, is the producer for The Sound of Texas syndicated radio series, in addition to writing a syndicated newspaper column and producing video documentaries. While at the School of Journalism, he did the 10 p.m. news on KOMU-TV.  Added: June 7, 2007

Chris West, BJ '64

Larry Caringer, BJ '69

After several years in print journalism at The Tarkio (Mo.) Avalanche and the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, Chris West, BJ '64, moved into senior federal communications posts with the Atomic Energy Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. At the time of his retirement in 1994, he was the principal national spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Testing Program. West then began a 10-year run as manager of communications for the Westinghouse Electric Company and Washington Group International, before retiring to his Texas ranch in 2004.  Added: June 7, 2007

Larry Caringer, BJ '69, is a morning radio personality in Danbury, Conn. He has been a radio personality in markets from coast-to-coast, including Los Angeles, Calif.; Sacramento, Calif.; Spokane, Wash.; Boston, Mass.; Springfield, Mass; and several cities in Connecticut. For 14 years, Caringer was the creative director at American Comedy Network, a creator and distributor of radio comedy to personality radio around the world. He ran his own production studio for several years, now called "That Caringer Guy Productions." Caringer has written and is marketing a golf humor book.  Added: April 20, 2007

Sharon Mumper, BJ '67, president of Magazine Training International (MTI), has moved the organization from its headquarters in Austria to Colorado Springs, Colo. MTI organizes conferences and provides print and electronic resources to Christian magazine publishers primarily in the Third World. MTI has organized more than 50 conferences and courses in Europe and Eastern and Central Asia. Mumper is working on a Business of Magazine Publishing course in Los Angeles, Calif., which will be filmed for production as a DVD course with subtitles in Russian and Chinese.  Added: April 16, 2007

A series of columns by Barney Calame, BJ '61, public editor of The New York Times, has earned the 2006 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism. Presented annually by the College of Communications at Penn State, the award recognizes outstanding contributions to print and broadcast journalism through responsible analysis or critical evaluation.  Added: April 6, 2007

Steve Rivkin, BJ '68

Steve Rivkin, BJ '68, is founder of Rivkin & Associates, a marketing and communications consultancy in Glen Rock, N.J. He is the co-author of five books on marketing strategy, including The New Positioning (1996); The Power of Simplicity (1998); Differentiate or Die (2000); IdeaWise (2002); and The Making of a Name (2004). His books have been translated into many languages around the world.  Added: March 6, 2007

Ken Gepfert, BJ '66, is the Wall Street Journal's commercial real estate editor in New York, N.Y. Gepfert recently returned to the United States after three years as a senior editor at the Wall Street Journal Europe. He said a highlight of his time in Europe was hosting a group of Missouri journalism students on the School's annual European Study Tour. "During their visit, I related my fond memories of 'The Shack,' whereupon one student responded brightly, 'Oh yeah, my grandfather told me about that place.' Ouch!" Gepfert said.  Added: Feb. 20, 2007
Related: Jan. 24, 2005: MU Students Tour European Media

G. Fred Wickman, BJ '68, is adviser to The University News, the independent student newspaper at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Having served in this role since February 2005, Wickman recently received University approval to conduct a practicum course for U-News editors and senior staff. The practicum gives academic credit for work at the newspaper, much like the experience Wickman received at the Missouri School of Journalism reporting and writing for The Columbia Missourian. Wickman also is an adjunct instructor for an upper level reporting course at UMKC through the English and Communication Studies departments. He joined UMKC in 2002.  Added: Feb. 13, 2007

Joseph Weiler, BJ '68, retired as executive editor of The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.) in 2003 and now lives in Fort Wayne.  Added: Feb. 13, 2007

Tina Lesher, MA '67

Tina (Rodgers) Lesher, MA '67, is spending the year as a Fulbright Scholar in the United Arab Emirates. Lesher is a journalism professor at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J.  Added: Feb. 13, 2007

Dennis Weiser, BJ '64, is the author of a new book, "Missouri Courthouses: Building Memories on the Public Square." It's a pictorial review of the state's 114 county courthouses, with more than 300 images illustrating existing exteriors, architectural features and unique interior elements of the buildings' designs. The book also includes photographs of courthouses that no longer exist. Weiser lives in Jefferson City, Mo.  Added: Jan. 18, 2007

"Al Fike, 1912-1996, The Modern Minstrel Man"	Kay Hoflander, BJ '69

Kay Hoflander, BJ '69, is the author of "Al Fike, 1912-1996, The Modern Minstrel Man." Fike was a Missouri-born teacher and administrator turned professional entertainer who reached national fame in the 50's and 60's. Hoflander lives in Higginsville, Mo., and writes a humorous and philosophical weekly column for the Independence (Mo.) Examiner titled "Full Circle." Also, the column runs in the Town and Country Extra in Oak Grove, Odessa, Grain Valley, and Buckner, Mo. Copies of the column are available on Hoflander's Web site: http://www.kayhoflander.com/.  Added: Dec. 28, 2006

Ben Weir, Jr., BJ '69

Ben Weir, Jr., BJ '69, will be the general manager of the Longmont (Colo.) Daily Times-Call, effective January 2007. He leaves The Examiner in Independence, Mo., where he served as publisher for 20 years. In 1999 Weir was inducted into the Missouri Press Association Hall of Fame and received the Harry S. Truman Special Recognition Award for his community service.  Added: Dec. 6, 2006

Ray Vickery, BJ '61, retired publisher of The Salem (Mo.) News and 1990 president of the Missouri Press Association, died Dec. 1 at Boone Hospital Center in Columbia, after a lengthy illness.  Added: Dec. 4, 2006

Former Rep. Martin Frost, BJ '64, (D-TX), one of the most influential leaders of Congress during his 26 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, has joined the Washington, D.C. Office of Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus PC as a shareholder. Since January, Frost has been a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. He is a political commentator for Fox News, where he also writes a column for the news organization's Web site. After leaving Congress in 2005, Frost was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Michael Qualls, BJ '64, a former journalist who was a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, died in early May 2006 in Los Angeles.

Wayne Mitchell, BJ '67, is the editor of the TimesDaily, a 30,000-circulation New York Times regional newspaper in Florence, Ala.

KRVN general manager Eric Brown, MA '68, was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame in August during ceremonies at the Nebraska Broadcasters 73rd annual convention in Lincoln. Under his direction KRVN, located in Lexington, Neb., became the flagship station for the nation's only farmer-rancher owned group. In 1984 KNEB AM-FM in Scottsbluff was added, followed in 1997 by KTIC AM and KWPN FM in West Point, spreading the news, markets and music border-to-border. KRVN's latest project is a new 1,000-foot tall FM tower near Lexington, allowing them to increase our FM coverage area without increasing the power.

Larry Moore, MA '68, was the recipient of the first R.A. Bloch Survivorship Award on June 4, 2006. Moore, news anchor and editor for KMBC-TV, Kansas City, is co-founder of the Greater Kansas City Dream Factory.

Susan J. Smith, BJ '68, died Sept. 18 in Indianapolis. She was 59. Smith worked in journalism for 32 years in Rochester, N.Y., the majority of that time at the former Times-Union, the afternoon paper owned by Gannett Co. Inc.  Updated: Feb. 12, 2007

Mary Ann Lindley, BJ '69, is editorial page editor of the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat. She was named a James K. Batten Excellence Award winner in September.

Michael Seabaugh, BJ '69, is a clinical psychologist/newspaper columnist in Santa Barbara, Calif. "Being a graduate of Missouri's J-School has always been instrumental in my life's journey," says Seabaugh. "I am certain that the only way I got into UCLA's master's program in film and television was because of the fact that I was a Missouri Journalism graduate. That took me to California, where I eventually attended USC and earned a doctorate in clinical psychology. After 25 years toiling in the field of psychotherapy, I felt the siren call of my earlier journalism training. I was hired by the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News Press to write a column on successful aging. It is called Healthspan. It also appears in the Cape Girardeau Missourian."

Thomas A. Turner, MA '69, publisher of the Lake Sun Leader, in Camdenton, Mo., died on July 22. Turner had been head of Lake Media One publishing for 16 years. Lake Media One publications include the Leader, Missouri Ozarks Publishing, Vacation News and Vision Media. He is a former advertising director of the Columbia Missourian.