VCU news

By Caley Sturgill
Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture

Seven distinguished media professionals were recognized on April 7 as the newest class of inductees to the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. The 29th annual ceremony was held at Richmond’s Quirk Hotel, where inductees delivered acceptance speeches to more than 200 guests, discussing their longtime careers in the industry.

The annual Virginia Communications Hall of Fame celebration recognizes communications professionals with exceptional careers in advertising, journalism, public relations and other media-related fields.

The 2016 inductees included communicators from across the state, ranging from newspaper publishers to television directors, professors to print journalists and authors to advertising professionals. Nationally known political analyst and University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato, Ph.D., served as master of ceremonies for the event.

One inductee this year, Horton P. Beirne, was inducted posthumously, honoring his devoted career as publisher of the Virginian Review in Covington and as former president of the Virginia Press Association. Beirne’s award was accepted by his wife, Mary Ann Beirne.

June Nicholson, a journalism professor in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media & Culture, was honored for 31 years of shaping and influencing VCU’s mass communications students.

“I have never had more confidence than I do today in the enduring importance of my field and in what we do at VCU in educating the next generation of leaders and thinkers,” Nicholson said.

Print journalist Bill McKelway shared Nicholson’s devotion to journalism. McKelway spoke to his love of telling stories during more than 40 years of reporting for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

McKelway reminisced to the audience about the highlights of his time reporting across Virginia and his family connections stretching back to the 1800s that led him into the field of journalism.

Jeffrey Blount, an Emmy Award-winning television director of NBC News, received his well-deserved induction following 32 years in the industry as an author and a director of network shows, including “The Today Show” and “Nightly News.” 

Two longtime Richmond advertising executives were also inducted. George R. Woltz, a co-founder of The Martin Agency, told the audience about his extensive career.

As creative director at The Martin Agency, Woltz oversaw the iconic “Virginia is for Lovers” campaign, now the commonwealth’s official tourism slogan and the longest-running state travel campaign in the country.

Another veteran of The Martin Agency, and a Hall of Fame inductee this year, Don Just, expressed his appreciation for advertising as “a field populated by diverse and stimulating people.”

Just served as president and CEO of The Martin Agency, now one of the most recognized agencies in the country, before joining VCU as a professor of creative brand management at the nationally acclaimed Brandcenter.

To conclude the night’s award ceremony, inductee Adriana Trigiani spoke of the camaraderie she felt being among “such a remarkable group of people” at the Hall of Fame.

We are honored to host this prestigious event for seven of Virginia’s most esteemed media professionals.

Trigiani is an author of 14 novels and two nonfiction books, and is the writer, director and producer of multiple television shows and one feature film. She has been featured on The New York Times Best Sellers list for every one of her books and her first novel, “Big Stone Gap,” was turned into a motion picture that debuted at the Virginia Film Festival in 2014.

“This award is well deserved by each of our seven inductees,” said Hong Cheng, Ph.D., director of the Richard T. Robertson School of Media & Culture at VCU during his remarks at the ceremony. “We are honored to host this prestigious event for seven of Virginia’s most esteemed media professionals.”