Decade: 1980-89
Lauren (Brannan) Yarger, BJ ’80
Lauren (Brannan) Yarger, BJ ’80, has been accepted as a full member of The Dramatists Guild of America. Her latest play, “Reel-to-Real: The Jennifer O’Neill Story,” recently received a reading by The League of Professional Theatre Women in New York.
Clay Hildebrand, BJ ’87
Clay Hildebrand, BJ ’87, was recently named president of Psychological Associates in St. Louis, a consulting company that applies behavioral psychology to business performance.
Russ Mitchell
What do you do? I am the lead anchor/managing editor for WKYC-TV in Cleveland, Ohio. What is the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School? Tenacity, teamwork. Have a thick skin and don’t accept “No” for an answer. What advice do you have for current students? Work hard, be a master of everything. What … Continued
Sally Renaud, BJ ’81
Sally Renaud, BJ ’81, will be inducted into College Media Association’s John A. Boyd Hall of Fame in October at the Dallas Sheraton as part of the Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Association Fall National College Media Convention. Renaud serves as chair of the department of journalism at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill.
Walt Potter, MA ’81
Walt Potter, MA ’81, was recently named as one of five Vanderbilt alumni inducted into the school’s Student Media Hall of Fame. Potter, a third-generation newspaper journalist, received his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt in 1972 prior to pursuing his graduate degree at Mizzou. He worked at the Star-Exponent and the Virginian Pilot and in 2014 … Continued
Jackie Woodward, BJ ’83
Jackie Woodward, BJ ’83, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, was elected to the Craft Brew Alliance board of directors at its annual shareholders meeting held May 17, 2017. Over the course of her career, Woodward has received numerous marketing and advertising awards, including the Chicago Advertising Federation’s “Ad Woman … Continued
John Yunker, BJ ’89
John Yunker will be reading from his co-authored mystery novel, DEVILS ISLAND, at Skylark Bookshop in Columbia on Wednesday, November 13, at 6:30 p.m. DEVILS ISLAND (Oceanview Publishing, September 2024) was inspired by a hiking/camping trip Raymond and Yunker took in the Australian state of Tasmania. While their real-life journey was uneventful, in the novel, … Continued
Karlin Linhardt, BJ ’84
Karlin Linhardt, BJ ’84, has joined the Subway team as senior vice president for marketing, North America, responsible for brand management and guest experience for more than 30,000 Subway restaurants in North America, serving almost 1.5 billion guests per year. He will oversee all North America marketing teams and core disciplines, including advertising, media planning … Continued
Vahe Gregorian, MA ’88
The Associated Press Sports Editors has named Vahe Gregorian, MA ’88, as one of the top 10 columnists for large market newspapers with circulation of more than 175,000. In addition, his work was recognized as part of a reporting team that was named one of the top 10 projects for the year. Gregorian is a … Continued
Kevin Jones, BJ ’88
Kevin Jones, BJ ’88 (Advertising), is the chief operating officer of The St. Louis American newspaper, the largest weekly newspaper in Missouri, and past president of the Missouri Press Association.