Ten inducted into 2012 class of School of Journalism distinguished alumni

Ten alumni from the IU School of Journalism were given the title of “Distinguished Alumni” at an awards ceremony Saturday evening.

The title is considered the highest honor given to alumni from the School of Journalism.

The ceremony took place in the Grand Foyer of the IU Auditorium.

This is the second annual awards ceremony. Last year’s event coincided with the School of Journalism’s centennial celebration.

The 2012 recipients are:

Paul McNutt

McNutt graduated from the School of Journalism in 1913. While at IU, he was editor of the Indiana Student. He later received a law degree from Harvard University.

In 1925, he became the dean of IU’s Law School and was national commander of the American Legion from 1928-29. He became the governor of Indiana in 1933.

President Franklin Roosevelt chose McNutt as high commissioner of the Philippines. While in this position, he convinced the U.S. Department of State to allow Jews in Europe to escape to the Philippines, saving the lives of many European Jews.

He was later administrator of the Federal Security Administration, leader of the War Manpower Commission and U.S. ambassador to the Philippine Republic. He died in 1955 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

E. Ross Bartley

Bartley graduated in 1916. While at IU, he studied political science and journalism, and he worked for the Indiana Daily Student. He later became city editor of the Bloomington Journal, was employed at United Press in Indianapolis and New York, and worked for the Ohio State Journal.

He started working for the Associated Press in 1916. In 1924, Bartley was appointed to cover Charles Dawes, the Republican candidate for vice president.

He later became Dawes’ secretary, worked for a brokerage firm and was director of publicity for the World’s Fair. Bartley became presidential candidate Alf Landon’s press representative in 1936.

He later oversaw the IU News Bureau, became director of University relations and worked for the IU Foundation.

He retired in 1962 and died in 1969.

Frank Bourgholtzer

Bourgholtzer graduated from IU in 1940. He majored in government and minored in economics and journalism, and he worked for the IDS. 

He worked for three Indiana newspapers after leaving IU and then moved back to his native New York to become a freelance writer.

Bourgholtzer wrote for Captain Marvel and Captain Midnight comic books before being hired by the Wall Street Journal in 1943, for which he became a Capitol Hill correspondent in 1945.

In 1946, he became a radio news writer at NBC, becoming their White House correspondent in 1947. He later worked at NBC bureaus in Paris, Vienna, Moscow and Bonn, Germany.

Bourgholtzer died in 2010.

George Gill

Gill graduated in 1957 and was employed at the IDS, where he met his wife, Kay Baldwin.

Gill began his career as a copy editor at the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky. He later had jobs as a reporter, city editor and managing editor.

Gill became the paper’s general manager and eventually publisher and president.

He also worked as board chairman of the American Printing House for the Blind, president of the Louisville Rotary Club and the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, and campaign chairman of Metro United Way.

Gill retired in 1993. With his newfound free time, he worked with Habitat for Humanity.  He died in 2010.  

Samuel Yette

Yette graduated in 1959 and was associate editor for the IDS.
Along with photojournalist Gordon Parks, Yette covered segregation in the South, work which was published by Life magazine.

He documented the Civil Rights movement in the South, which helped him obtain a job at Ebony magazine.

He later became the first black reporter for the Dayton Journal-Herald and  also worked for the Peace Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity.

Yette started working for Newsweek in 1968, where he eventually became the first black Washington correspondent.

He wrote “The Choice: The Issue of Black Survival in America” and taught at Howard University for 14 years. He died in 2011.

Earleen Fisher

Fisher graduated from IU in 1968. She worked for the IDS while at the University and became managing editor her senior year.

After graduation, she found a job with the Associated Press. In 1971, she moved to the AP New York office to become a supervisor for the U.S. news report.
She moved to Cairo in 1977 as a freelance writer for AP, the New York Times and Voice of America.

In 1980, she started working in Beirut and Tel Aviv for AP. She came back to the states in 1985 to take a job as supervisor on the foreign desk.

In 1987, she became bureau chief in New Delhi and in 1992 was made chief of the AP’s Middle East Services. She taught at the American University in Cairo and
retired in 2007.

David Weaver

Weaver graduated from IU in 1969. He also obtained a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. He then came back to IU to join the School of Journalism faculty.
Weaver has written more than a dozen books and organized journalism surveys in 1982, 1992 and 2002.

In 2009, he was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

IU named him in a distinguished professor in 2010, and he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in April.

Gerould Kern

Kern graduated from IU in 1971. After leaving the University, Kern worked at the Daily Herald and then joined the Chicago Tribune in 1991.

He is currently senior vice president and editor of the Tribune.
He has directed the paper toward more investigative journalism, writing about government mismanagement and political corruption.

In 2011, the paper was redesigned and gained 44 full pages of news per week.
Through Kern’s leadership, the Tribune has won many awards, including the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for
commentary.

Melissa Farlow

Farlow graduated from IU in 1974, where she was photo editor for the IDS and editor-in-chief of the Arbutus.

After graduation, she worked for the Courier-Journal and the Pittsburgh Press.
Farlow has had work published in National Geographic magazine, Smithsonian, GEO and numerous books.

She has worked in both Africa and Latin America and is married to National Geographic photographer Randy Olson. 

Farlow has a master’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, where she has also taught.

Timothy Franklin

Franklin graduated in 1983. He worked for the IDS, which helped him win the Society of Professional Journalists’ Barney Kilgore Award in 1981.

After graduating, he got a job at the Chicago Tribune, where he became associate managing editor.

He later became editor of the Indianapolis Star, Orlando Sentinel and the Baltimore Sun.

He is currently the managing editor of the Bloomberg Insider.

15 members were inducted in 2011, the first year the school has bestowed this award.

— Sydney Murray