April 2014

Oklahoma Newspaperman, Ed Livermore, Sr. Dies

Ed Livermore, Sr. (left) with Engleman/Livermore Professor John Schmeltzer at the Journalism Centennial luncheon in Sept. 2013.

Edward Knowles "Ed" Livermore, Sr., longtime Oklahoma newspaper publisher and OU journalism alumnus and benefactor, died April 26 in Tulsa. He was 95.

In 1940, he received his journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma alongside his future wife, Melba (Hudson) Livermore (also class of 1940), whom he married the next year.

The Livermores continued to show support for the University of Oklahoma's College of Journalism and Mass Communication later in life by contributing money to the Engleman/Livermore Professorship, a community journalism position established by the Livermores in conjunction with Charles and Jean Engleman.

A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, May 3rd at the First United Methodist Church in Sapulpa. Services are under the direction of Green Hill Funeral Home in Sapulpa.

More information about the services can be found online at

http://greenhillok.com/book-of-memories/1856613/Livermore-Edward/service-details.php You may also leave a personal message or memory for the family at the above address.

"Sooner Sports Pad" receives national acclaim

In its debut year "Sooner Sports Pad," the student-produced television sports magazine, has won two major national awards. The show is filmed with a live studio audience and is aired weekly on Fox Sports Oklahoma on Monday nights and replayed throughout the week on Fox Sports Southwest, where it can be seen in more than nine million television households.

"Sooner Sports Pad" won the Grand Prize for the Best Video Sports Program from the National Broadcasting Society at a conference in Los Angeles in March. Earlier in the year, the program also won the national award for the Best Student Sports Program Series from the Sports Video Group's College Sports Media Awards. Read more.

Gaylord College selected in inaugural group of Online News Association Challenge Fund Grants

The University of Oklahoma is one of just a dozen schools chosen from a field of more than 100 applicants to be awarded the 2014-15 Challenge Fund for Innovation in Journalism Education. The project team, composed of Gaylord College faculty, students and professional journalists with the non-profit Oklahoma Watch, will focus in-depth reporting efforts on the issue of poverty in Oklahoma City. The project titled, "Talk With Me," will give residents of low-income neighborhoods a way to voice their issues to state officials via videos and interviews.

For more information about the project, visit ONA news site.

Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame

Larry Ferguson (1960) was one of nine outstanding journalists honored at the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame luncheon on Thursday, April 24.

Ferguson (1937- ) graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1960 with an advertising degree. After serving in the U.S. Army, he returned to publish the Cleveland American with his wife, Ninagay, in 1962.

Read more about Ferguson and the other inductees at www.okpress.com.

New Board of Visitors Members Welcomed
Gaylord College is proud to have a very distinguished Board of Visitors with both alumni and respected peers serving on the Board. This year we are pleased to add seven new members: Erik Logan, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network; Gail Davis, Gail Davis & Associates; Bub Burke, attorney; Joi Gordon, Dress for Success Worldwide; Jim Helberg, MediaVest; David Haspel, Haspel Productions; and Lee Reynolds, CT Challenge.

Burke, Haspel and Helberg began their terms with the spring meeting on April 11. Davis, Logan, Gordon and Reynolds will begin their terms with the fall meeting in October.

Erik Logan - Logan is president of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network a post he took in July 2011, adding to his existing responsibilities of running Harpo Studios. Together with co-President Sherri Salata, he leads the day-to-day operations for both the network and the award-winning studio. Prior to joining Harpo in 2008, Logan was executive vice president, programming and broadcast operations for XM Satellite Radio. Read more.

Gail Davis - As Founder and President of one of the country's premiere speaker's bureaus, Davis makes CEOs, authors, educators, inventors, gurus and inspirational luminaries shine. She helms her namesake bureau, which began as Gail Davis & Associates, and has created a company known for its focus on the client. In 2011, the Dallas Business Journal honored her as one of Dallas' Top 25 Women in Business. Davis is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. A native of Oklahoma, Davis resides in Dallas. Read more.

Bob Burke - Burke has written more historical non-fiction books than anyone else in history. He was born in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, and now practices law and writes books in Oklahoma City. Burke graduated with a journalism degree from the in 1970 and a law degree from Oklahoma City University 1979. In 2004, he received the Governor's Art Award for Excellence in the Arts in Oklahoma and was named to the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame and in 2006 was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the state's highest honor. In 2006, he was given the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award by the Oklahoma Center for the Book. Read more.

Joi Gordon - Joi Gordon is a 1989 radio/TV/film graduate and also received her Juris Doctorate from the OU College of Law. Gordon is the CEO of Dress for Success Worldwide, a leader in promoting the economic and social development of disadvantaged women. Gordon came to Dress for Success with a hope to donate several business suits, which was followed by offering her legal expertise to the organization's board of directors. That offer of help turned into a leadership role that has earned her recognition as one of the "25 Most Influential Black Women in Business" by Network Journal Magazine and one of the "Most Powerful Moms in Non-profit" by Working Mother magazine. Read more.

Jim Helberg - In his 29+ years as a media executive, Helberg has held a front row seat to some of the greatest evolutions in the history of marketing and media. This powerful perspective has driven Helberg to counsel blue chip clients well beyond today's consumer market by positioning corporate strategies and investments over a longer-term to capitalize on media, content and messaging that drives future campaigns and industries. Read more.

Lee Reynolds - A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, with a degree in Journalism and specializing in Public Relations, Reynolds has also received her Accreditation from the Public Relations Society of America. Reynolds is in her 10th year as an elected member of Monroe's Board of Education where she also chairs the Communications Committee. In 1995, Reynolds was named the Volunteer Fund Raiser of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She has returned to Haiti for multiple times with a medical mission team to provide basic healthcare services to the people of Ile a Vache. Read more.

David Haspel - David K. Haspel is the president and CEO of Haspel Communications, Inc. a diversified media communications company engaged in feature film and television development and specialized consulting services. Haspel is a published columnist with the Dallas Morning News having written several Viewpoints ranging from ethics in sports to corruption in the political process. Haspel, a New Orleans native, earned a BA in journalism from the University of Oklahoma, an MBA from Southern Methodist University and is an alumnus of the UCLA John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management's Executive Program. Read more. Read more.

Faculty Accolades

Owen Kulemeka, Most Inspiring Professor -

Kulemeka was named the Most Inspiring Professor by the Sooner student-athletes. Each year faculty are nominated by student-athletes and are chosen by the Student-Athlete Advisory Executive Committee. Kulemeka has been with Gaylord College for three years and teaches advertising and public relations and serves as a chair for graduate students.

Ken Fischer, OBEA President - Fischer has been named President of the Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association. Fischer has led our broadcasting students to take top honors nationwide for the OU Nightly newscast, OUr Sports Pad and Sooner Sports Pad productions. He has been with Gaylord College since 2006. His career has included work in public broadcasting, commercial production and cable television.
Read more about OBEA.

Dennis Davis, BEA scholar award - Davis, a Gaylord College visiting professor, has been named the recipient of the 2014 Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Lifetime Achievement in Scholarship (LAS) award. Davis is a Visiting Professor teaching in the Gaylord College graduate program and is Professor Emeritus of Communications in the College of Communications at the Pennsylvania State University. Read more about the BEA award.

Joe Foote, President of WCPJ - Dean Foote has been named the President of the Washington Center for Politics & Journalism. The Center was created for the specific purpose of running one program, originally called "The Politics & Journalism Internship," to teach future political reporters about politics from the perspective of political practitioners and political journalists. Read more about WCPJ.

Sports Journalist Al Eschbach to deliver
Gaylord College Convocation Message

Al Eschbach will be the convocation keynote speaker for the upcoming Gaylord College ceremony. Eschbach is a 1968 OU journalism graduate who is somewhat legendary in sports circles. He started his journalism career writing for the OU Daily, then later became sports editor. He then worked for the Oklahoma Journal and began a broadcast radio career in 1976 with KTOK radio, he can currently be heard on WWLS The Sports Animal. He also teaches sports reporting as an adjunct professor for Gaylord College. Read more about Al.

The Convocation Ceremony will be at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 in the T. Howard McCasland Fieldhouse. The ceremony will be streamed live at www.ou.edu/gaylordlive.

Gaylord College Awards $200,000 in Scholarships

This year, Gaylord College awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships to incoming freshmen and upperclassmen.

Sydney McMinn (center), with Don Harral (left) and Dean Joe Foote, received the Stewart Harral Memorial Scholarship given in memory of Stewart Harral, former director of the Journalism School and Press Relations Director for OU who established the first public relations degree program in the United States.

Read more about the Harral scholarship and others available to students through the generosity of donors.

If you would like to help students through scholarships, contact Kristen Lazalier, director of development at (405) 795-3500 or klazalier@ou.edu.

Centennial History book is still available as hard-bound book and iBook format

Get your copy of the Centennial book

The Centennial history book is available as both a hard-bound coffee-table book and as an iBook. The printed book can be purchased from the Gaylord College storefront and the iBook is available for download from the iTunes bookstore.

Cost for the hard-bound book is $32 including tax and shipping. The iBook is $9.99 and includes video interviews with the authors and video profiles of the JayMac Distinguished Alumni from 2007 to current.

Volume: 7 � Issue: 2