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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 10/1/07 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
October 12, 2003 UWGB gets first endowed chair Blair Foundation gives $1.5M to communications department By Cynthia Hodnett The chair — a faculty position dedicated to teaching and research
in communications and the media — will be funded by a $1.5 million
deferred gift from the Blair Foundation and Dorothy Blair to honor her
late husband, John P. Blair.
The gift is meant to recognize John P. Blair's influence as a media
pioneer, his and his wife Dorothy's appreciation for the University of
Wisconsin and the Green Bay area, the strength of UW-Green Bay's communications
program and the community's impact as a communications and media leader.
John P. Blair, who died in 1983, was an early promoter of broadcast
advertising.
"We're very grateful to the Blair Foundation and Mrs. Blair for the
generosity they have shown to the university," said Chancellor Bruce Shepard.
"Money from the state and student tuition provide a considerable amount
of our funding but in order to get to the margin of excellence that we're
aiming for, we need gifts such as this one," Shepard said.
"It's really great that we're getting a donation that will go to a specific
department," said Megan Habermann, a 21-year-old senior and communication
processes major.
"For a long time, we were given donations to buildings and facilities,
but it was rare that we were getting donations for a specific department,"
Habermann said. "I won't be able to take advantage of it, but it will
help students in the future." In 1948, after expanding his radio station
sales representative business, John P. Blair established the first industry
agency devoted to selling television advertising.
With offices in most major American cities, John Blair & Company became
the representative for 120 TV stations and 196 radio stations. The company
also owned printing companies and the largest direct-mail business in
the country.
"I remember driving up to Green Bay when the university was first developed
and talking to (the university's first president) Ed Weidner about this
university," Dorothy Blair said in a telephone interview from her home
in Naples, Fla.
"He (Blair) was impressed by the location of the university and the
fact that it was a new university in the community that would help advance
education in the area," she said. "I think he would like the idea of setting
up (an endowed chair) as a way to continue to advance the study of communication."
Shepard said the donation will fund an additional faculty position in
the area of communications and the media. It will support research and
creative work of a distinguished senior faculty member.
The endowed chair will increase opportunities for more personalized
faculty-student interaction, enhance the communications curriculum, and
strengthen university and community connections through internships and
other programs with area employers.
"It's an extremely generous gift and something that will enhance the
quality of the communication processes program that we provide," said
Tim Meyer, chairman of UWGB's Information and Computer Sciences department
and a journalism and mass media professor.
"The university has been very fortunate to support five named professorships
that are available to faculty on a rotating basis," Meyer said.
"These professorships supplement faculty salary but they don't completely
pay for the faculty's position. Endowed chairs have been common at larger
schools like UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. Given our status as one of the
youngest universities in the system, securing an endowed chair is a natural
move to the next level."
What is an endowed chair?
An endowed chair permanently adds a full faculty position in a focused
area of importance to the donor and the University of Wisconsin-Green
Bay. The chair is filled by a distinguished faculty member who probably
has a national or international reputation in his or her field.
An endowed chair builds upon basic programs covered through state support.
It provides students with expanded educational choices and research opportunities.
Adding a faculty position will increase opportunities for faculty and
student interaction.
By enhancing research opportunities for students, it will better prepare
them for the workplace or admittance to top graduate programs.
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