Archives: Class Notes
Jim Spencer, MA ’91
Jim Spencer, MA ’91, president and founder of Newsy, was awarded the Governor’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award at Missouri’s 2014 Governor’s Conference on Economic Development on Sept. 5. Newsy is a national video news network based in Columbia, Missouri. The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP) acquired the digital startup in January 2014. Newsy produces … Continued
Amy Keller Laird, BJ ’97
Amy Keller Laird, BJ ’97, has been promoted to editor in chief of Women’s Health magazine. Previously, she served as executive editor.
Todd Natenberg, BJ ’91
Todd Natenberg, BJ ’91, is an account manager with School Specialty, which provides school supplies, furniture, and curriculum solutions to K-12 districts in western Missouri. Natenberg also writes a freelance fatherhood column for Lifestyle Publications in Kansas City and freelanced a first-person column to the Jerusalem Post on the shootings at the Jewish Community Center … Continued
Catherine Soete, MA ’72
Catherine Soete, MA ’72, has published her first novel, “Grave Secrets,” with Mill City Press. The mystery is set in a fictional Iowa town, during the summer of 1973, when Senate Watergate hearings riveted the country. Reporter Carol Hagan, newly minted from the Missouri School of Journalism and eager to start her career on a … Continued
Tom Ryther, BJ ’61
Tom Ryther, BJ ’61, has been inducted into the Bayless High School of St. Louis Athletic Hall of Fame. Ryther still holds the Bayless record for most wins by a pitcher set back in 1955. He is among 10 former athletes initially chosen to enter the newly-formed Hall of Fame. Joining Ryther is former Mizzou … Continued
John Planchon, MA ’75
John Planchon, MA ’75, associate professor of commerce and business at Rhodes College, was honored with the 2014 Jameson M. Jones Award for Outstanding Faculty Service at the college’s opening convocation on Aug. 22. The award honors a current faculty member who has rendered exemplary service and provided leadership to the Rhodes community. Planchon joined … Continued
Scott Mulford, MA ’77
Scott Mulford, MA ’77, was appointed editor of Catholic Times, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, effective July 1, 2014. Mulford joins Catholic Times from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General where he served as press secretary in the Springfield office. Prior to that, Mulford was public information officer at … Continued
Cameron Craig, BJ ’92
Cameron Craig, BJ ’92, died on Nov. 25, 2013. He was a photojournalist in Portland, Oregon.
Frank E. Ovaitt Jr., BJ ’69
Frank E. Ovaitt Jr., BJ ’69, received the Gerald Sass Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. The award, established in 1946, is based in part on connecting the work of academics and communications professionals. Ovaitt is the first public relations professional to win the award. He is president … Continued
Howard Berger, BJ ’42
Howard Berger, BJ ’42, died on July 20, 2014.