Previous Hall of Fame Inductees

2011

Keith Samples

Keith Samples, who earned his bachelor's degree in journalism in 1977 from Texas Tech University, is the 47th inductee into the Mass Communications Hall of Fame. The College of Media & Communication recognized Samples as an Outstanding Alumnus in 2002.

After graduation, Samples worked as the sports information director for Texas Tech University. He left Texas Tech in 1981 to become executive vice president of Sports Productions Inc., a Dallas-based company that produced and distributed live sporting events.

During a career in film and television that spans more than 25 years, Samples has been involved with the production and distribution of more than 20 feature films and dozens of television series. In 1985, Samples moved out of the sports world and accepted a position in Los Angeles as senior vice president at Lorimar-Telepictures, the producers of "Dallas," "Falcon's Crest," "Knot's Landing," and "The People's Court." He became executive vice president of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. in 1987. During his tenure, Samples managed a sales staff responsible for more than $1 billion in domestic program sales, including iconic hits "Murphy Brown" and "Full House."

In 1991, Samples founded and became the CEO of Rysher Entertainment, a company that has grown from the relatively humble production and distribution house behind such syndicated television hits as "Saved By the Bell" and "Highlander: The Series" to a major Hollywood player, with films such as "Big Night" and "Kingpin," both in 1996. Samples made his debut as a screenwriter and director with the romantic comedy "A Smile Like Yours" in 1997.

After selling Rysher Entertainment to Cox Communications in 1997, Samples embarked on a career as a producer/director. Since then, he has directed more than 60 episodes of prime-time television, and produced numerous films. Television directing credits include episodes of "The Practice," "Homicide: Life on the Streets," "Oz," "The O.C.," "Dawson's Creek," "Felicity," "Judging Amy," and "Reba."

In July, Samples directed Academy Award winner Russell Crowe in his North American television debut, the third-season premier of the Canadian hit "Republic of Doyle." The show will air in January 2012. Samples is a long-time member of the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Directors Guild of Canada.

2010

Otice A. Green

The late Otice A. Green graduated in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in journalism from Texas Tech University. He was a long-time public relations and political consultant who died Feb. 7, 2010. Born in 1927, Green was a World War II Navy veteran. His wife, Mary Faye Bonds, also a journalism graduate of Texas Tech, survives him. He is the founder of the Otice A. Green Presidential Scholarship at Texas Tech.

Green began his professional career as a reporter, photographer and desk editor at the Plainview Daily Herald in 1949 before leaving in 1950 to become assistant manager of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. His work on the chamber's Hub Magazine won several national awards. He helped to inaugurate the South Plains Maid of Cotton contest, developed press releases for the chamber and worked on the Panhandle/South Plains Fair. Green created the well-known Prairie Dog Pete campaign that attracted national and international publicity for the city.

In 1956, Green and his wife opened Otice Green and Associates, the first public relations firm in Lubbock. His clients included the Lubbock New Car and Truck Dealers Association, the High Plains Underground Water District, and several area chambers of commerce. Green was widely known as one of the state's top political consultants and was involved in more than 100 campaigns, including those of former Texas Gov. Preston Smith, former Texas Comptroller and Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, and former U.S. Reps. George Mahon and Kent Hance, now chancellor at Texas Tech. He was the campaign manager or consultant in all of Gov. Smith's campaigns – the 1956 race for the Texas Senate, the 1962 race for lieutenant governor and the 1968, 1970 and 1972 races for governor. From 1970 until the fall of 1972, Green served as chief of staff for Gov. Smith.

Brad Moran

Brad Moran is a Lubbock native who began his broadcasting career at the age of 11. His father, Ray Moran, also a member of the Texas Tech Mass Communications Hall of Fame, gave him his start at the family-owned radio station, KTEZ. In 1982, Brad earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Texas Tech University and immediately entered sales at the Moran's first television station, KJTV-34 in Lubbock. In 1985, Brad and Ray decided to affiliate the station with the fledgling Fox Network while making the move into a new state-of-the-art broadcast facility. In 1988, they expanded their television holdings, launching Telemundo 46, a Spanish-language station. Father and son became pioneers in the television industry, the first to operate multi-stations in a single market. In 1992, Brad expanded the holdings for what is now Ramar Communications, adding radio properties Magic 93.7 and FoxTalk 950. In 1985, he launched Lubbock's UPN station, and then he expanded into Albuquerque with the Telemundo affiliate. Lubbock radio stations 104.3 and Stars 97.3 were purchased in 1998 and 2002, respectively. In 2009, the Ramar radio group entered the sports broadcasting format, launching Double-T 104.3, which is the flagship station for Texas Tech athletics. Ramar Communications is currently the parent company for seven television and four radio stations in Texas and New Mexico.

Brad's accomplishments in business and community service have been honored by numerous organizations. He was the 1999 recipient of the Lubbock Advertising Federation Silver Medal. He was the 2006 Lubbock Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year and was given the 2007 Leadership Lubbock Outstanding Alumnus Award. He has been elected by peers to serve five terms on the Fox Network Board of Governors. He is a past president of the Lubbock Advertising Federation and the Rotary Club of Greater Southwest Lubbock. He has co-chaired the Lubbock Arts Festival and has served as a United Way Loaned Executive. He has been a member of the South Plains Food Bank Board and the Lubbock Airport Board. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, All Saints Episcopal School and the ATO Board of Trustees.

Brad and wife, Carla, have two daughters, Ava and Ella.

2009 - Fall

Linda Rutherford

Linda Rutherford is vice president of communications and strategic outreach for Southwest Airlines, which is based in Dallas and is one of the nation's largest airline in terms of domestic customer boardings. Her responsibilities include overseeing media relations, special event planning, crisis communications and emergency response, community relations and charitable giving, corporate community affairs, public relations, emerging and multimedia relations, legislative communication and grassroots activities, Southwest's Speaker's Bureau, employee communications, and graphic design and creative services.

Rutherford earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Texas Tech University, where she graduated magna cum laude and was the 1988 Outstanding Journalism Graduate. She is a past chairperson of the Texas Tech Mass Communications Professional Advisory Committee. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1992, she was a reporter for several Dallas-area suburban newspapers, including the Carrollton Chronicle, the Irving Daily News and the Collin County Community College District. She began her career as a reporter for Newsweek magazine in New York and later was a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald. Her honors include being a 2008 inductee into the Public Relations Hall of Fame for PR News magazine and a 2002 Outstanding Alumna of the Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication. PR Week recently recognized Southwest Airlines as one of the five companies that "gets social media"; PR News named Nuts about Southwest as the best corporate blog for 2007 and 2008; and PR Week named Southwest Airlines' Corporate Communications Department as the public relations Team of the Year in 2000. Rutherford's civic activities include being the vice president of community relations for the Lewisville Independent School District's Education Foundation board of directors. She has been a featured speaker for numerous organizations, including the Association for Women in Communication, the Denver Business Marketing Association, the Airports Council International-North America, the Ragan Speechwriter's Conference, and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.

2009 - Spring

Bob Condron

Bob Condron, a veteran of 13 Olympic Games for the United States Olympic Committee, has been director of Media Services for the USOC since 1997 and a member of the USOC staff for 24 years. In addition to directing media services at Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and World University Games, Condron leads the USOC Media Services staff in promoting and publicizing athletes and teams in the USOC family on a daily basis.

Dennis Harp, Ph.D

Dennis A. Harp, native Texan, holds a bachelor's degree in commercial art from Texas State University, as well as a master's degree in broadcasting and a doctorate in educational technology with a journalism minor from Texas A&M Commerce. He became a college instructor in 1966 and recently retired after 35 years as a professor of electronic media and communications, and associate dean of faculty, College of Media & Communication, Texas Tech University. Harp previously taught at two other state institutions for an academic career totaling 39 years.

2008

William F. (Bill) deTournillon Sr.

Bill deTournillon Jr.

The deTournillon family members are no strangers to television, and especially to the Lubbock market. He introduced his son, Bill deTournillon Jr., to Lubbock television as he served as vice president and general manager at Lubbock's KCBD-TV station. Among his 10 grandchildren, Dan Jackson is the oldest and is the third generation of broadcasters. He is the current general manager of Lubbock's KCBD-TV and broadcasts "Consider this with Dan Jackson."

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2007

Larry Beaulieu

Larry Beaulieu first traveled the broadcasting path in fall 1965, his freshman year at Texas Tech University. He came to Tech to study electrical engineering, but on a dare he auditioned for the 10-watt Tech radio station, KTXT-FM. Suddenly, he was the Saturday morning voice of the "Texaco Metropolitan Opera," which meant he did a station ID once an hour. His on-air role expanded as he became more comfortable with the microphone. Within a few months, he was running a board shift and announcing. He realized by the end of the year that broadcasting was far more fun for him than engineering and required less math. He changed his major.
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2006

Scott Pelley

CBS correspondent Scott Pelley has contributed stories to CBS' "60 Minutes" since the 2003-04 season and
was a correspondent for "60 Minutes II" from its first season in 1999.

Pelley's March 2005 "60 Minutes" investigation advanced the story about the CIA's controversial practice of
rendition, delivering terror detainees to other nations known to use torture.

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2005

Chino Chapa

President & CEO of Chapa Consulting, Inc.

Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr.

Attorney, Politician, Newspaper Publisher and Radio Executive

2004

Miller Bonner

General Manager and National Director of Technology for Edelman/GTT

Jack Dale

The "Voice of the Texas Tech Red Raiders."

2003

Kirk Carr

Advertising Services Director, The Wall Street Journal

2002

Jim Ferguson

President & Chief Creative Officer, Young & Rubican New York.

2001

George Irish

President Newspaper Group, Corporate Vice President, The Hearst Corporation.

2000

Larry Franklin

Chairman and CEO of Harte-Hanks, Inc.

1999

Marty Haag

Senior vice president, news/broadcast division for A.H. Belo Corp.

1998

Ralph Sellmeyer

Twenty years as Mass Communications faculty member, Texas Tech University

Jerry Henderson

United Way director for public relations, Lubbock

1997

Nelda Armstrong

First woman to own an advertising agency in Lubbock; earned Sterling Service District 10 Award, the Lubbock Advertising Federation's Silver Medal award; Lubbock Addy Awards and awards from the National Agri-Marketing Association; WICI's Business Woman of the Year (1981) and Communicator of the Year (1983); provides the College of Mass Communications with internships and employment opportunities for students.

1996

L. Ray Ward

Established the “Public Utilities Communicators Association President's Scholarship” for advertising and public relations majors; served thirty years with the Texas Utilities System in public relations and advertising; a member of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee from 1977-1983 and 1990-1992.

1995

Phil Price

Served as professional advisor to the student ad club for 10 years; a member of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee; provides internship and employment opportunities for mass communications students; president of The Price Communications Group, Inc.

1994

Phil J. Record

Chairman of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee from 1990-1992; worked for the Fort Worth Star Telegram for more than 40 years and serves as ombudsman and special assistant to the publisher; worked for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal; has earned 19 journalistic awards.

1993

Ray Moran

Chaired the School's Foundation Committee from 1987 to 1992; president of Ramar Communications, Inc.; served on the School's Mass Communications Advisory Committee; donated tower space for KTXT; provided internship and employment opportunities for Mass Communications students.

1992

Camille Keith

Vice president of Southwest Airlines and Mass Communications Advisory Committee. Served as president of the Dallas Press Club Foundation, Dallas Advertising League, and Dallas Repertory Theatre; named as Who's Who in Advertising, Aviation, American, Southwest and of Women; supports the School with scholarships, internships and service.

1991

Dr. Billy I. Ross

Served as first chairman of the Department of Mass Communications; established the Mass Communications Advisory Committee, the Mass Communications Hall of Fame, Mass Communications Week, the L.U. Kaiser Innovative Teaching Award and the Thomas Jefferson Award; received many regional national awards including AAF'S 1989 Distinguished Advertising Educator of the Year Award.

1990

C. R. "Choc" Hutcheson

Graduated in journalism from Texas Tech; first news director at KCBD-TV in Lubbock; supports Mass Communications through scholarships.

1989

William S. Morris, III

Recognized for his work and assistance in establishing the Texas Tech College of Media & Communication; former director of the Associated Press and the American Newspapers Publishers Association; nationally known for his contributions to mass communications education.

1988

Ray Poindexter

Donated the KTXT-TV tower in 1979 and served as chairman of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee from 1984 to 1986.

1987

Frank W. Mayborn

Supported the department's graduate program and pioneered the internship program for journalism students; received a special award from the Texas Daily Newspaper Association for 50 years of service to the newspaper industry.

1986

W. D. "Dub" Rogers, Jr.

Helped bring television to Lubbock and to Texas Tech; a television pioneer who helped take television from the big city to medium and small-sized markets

1985

Donald H. Waddington, Sr.

President of Branham Newspaper Sales, New York. Served as an original member and chairman of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee from 1977 to 1980; recognized national leader in newspaper sales.

1984

Clint Formby

Texas Pioneer in Radio Broadcasting. Organized the Mass Communications Advisory Committee; served as chairman of the Texas Tech Board of Regents; served as an officer for several state and national broadcasting associations.

1983

Jack Butler

Served as chairman of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee from 1974 to 1977; retired as editor and senior vice-president of the Fort Worth Star Telegram in 1981.

1982

Gordon Hanna

Rose from the staff of the Toreador to the editorships of the Memphis Commercial Appeal and the Evansville Press; named general manager and vice-president of the E. W. Scripps Company

1981

Gordon B. McLendon

Gained national recognition as one of the giants of the broadcasting industry through his establishment of the Liberty Broadcasting System; donated his memorabilia to the College of Media & Communication

1980

Harry Montgomery

Served as first editor of the Texas Tech Toreador, now The University Daily; associate editor of The Phoenix Gazette and member of the Texas Tech Mass Communications Advisory Committee for eight years.

1979

Wayne Sellers

Publisher of Palestine Herald-Press. Achieved statewide recognition as publisher of the Palestine Herald-Press and president of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association; honored as the Texas Journalism Council's "Friend of Journalism Educators."

1978

Wendell Mayes, Jr.

Texas pioneer in broadcasting. Served as Chairman of the Texas Tech Board of Regents; received national recognition for his service to the broadcasting industry; an original member of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee and served as its second chairman.

1977

J. Culver Hill

Director of Advertising and Public Relations, Hempill Wells Company. Longtime supporter of mass communications at Texas Tech; Tech's advertising society is named in his honor; many students receive scholarships as a part of his generous donation to the School.

1976

L.U. Kaiser

Chairman of the Board, The Premier Company. An original member of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee; created the innovative teacher awards for the department; posthumously named to the Direct Marketing Association's Hall of Fame.

1975

C.W. Ratliff

News director at KCBD-TV. Considered the "Dean of West Texas Journalism"; one of the first editors of the university newspaper and one of the first graduates of the department.

1974

Wallace E. Garets

Served as the chair of the Department of Journalism for 14 years and helped the department receive its accreditation; served as national president of the American Society of Journalism School Administrators

1973

Don Belding

Founder of Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising Agency. Supported Texas Tech by bringing international students to the campus through the Don Belding Fund.

Joe Bryant

Lubbock pioneer broadcaster. Aided in the establishment of the Department of Mass Communications. Advertising students are eligible to receive the Joe Bryant scholarship.