Archives: Class Notes
Webster Hawkins, BJ ’47
Webster Hawkins, BJ ’47, recently died in Kansas. He began his journalism career as a high school sophomore, working at the St. Francois County Journal where he worked as a printer’s devil. After graduating from Flat River Junior College in 1944, Hawkins accepted a teaching position in De Soto, Missouri, taught seventh and eighth grade … Continued
Elise Hu, BJ ’03
Elise Hu, BJ ’03, is serving as an NPR international correspondent in Asia, responsible for covering both Koreas and Japan. In March 2015, Hu founded NPR’s first ever Seoul, South Korea, bureau.
Eric Engberg, BJ ’63
Former CBS News Correspondent Eric Engberg, BJ ’63, a political and investigative reporter who also covered overseas conflicts for CBS News and won electronic journalism’s top honor for a report identifying a Vietnam veteran buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns, died March 27, at his home in Palmetto, Florida, where he retired after his … Continued
Michael Pointer, BJ ’88
Michael Pointer, BJ ’88, left the newspaper industry “about a year ago, with some sadness,” he reports, and accepted a position in the media department of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Washington, D.C. Pointer misses being a sports writer, but loves the new challenge, the security it provides and living in Washington.
Sue Ann Poor, BJ ’52
Sue Ann Poor, BJ ’52, died March 10, 2016, in St. Louis. She joined the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in 1955 and was one of the first women general-news reporters. After 29 years with the Globe-Democrat, Poor joined the Post-Dispatch, where her duties included six years as the Reader’s Advocate in the Sunday editions. She retired … Continued
Jacqueline Kazil, BJ ’05, MA ’08
Jacqueline Kazil, BJ ’05, MA ’08, recently published Data Wrangling with Python, an entry-level textbook aimed at democratizing data science by teaching basic skills in the Python programming language. Kazil is a former Presidential Innovation Fellow and co-founded the government technology organization 18F. Her career has consisted of many data science and “wrangling” projects including … Continued
Tom Weir, MA ’94, PhD ’98
Tom Weir, MA ’94, PhD ’98, died Feb. 14, 2016. Prior to his retirement in 2015, he most recently served as interim director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina. Previously he taught at Oklahoma State University and served for five years as director at the School of … Continued
Julie (Mobley) Gustafson, BJ ’88
Julie (Mobley) Gustafson, BJ ’88, is director of marketing for Interim Physicians in St. Louis.
Colleen Barry, BJ ’15
Colleen Barry, BJ ’15, is a marketing and business development associate at Tarlton Corp. in St. Louis. She supports the general contracting and construction management firm’s efforts in communicating its success stories and helps pursue new business opportunities.
Robert Parker, BJ ’41
Robert Parker, BJ ’41, died Jan. 18, 2016. His journalism career included reporting for the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock and the Courier–Post in Hannibal, Mo., followed by a lengthy tenure with Time-Life Corporation that took the Parkers on adventures throughout the world, including Washington, Toronto, California, Paris and New York City.