Bob Thomas
CLASS OF 1972 Robert E. “Bob” Thomas was the executive vice president and general manager of Norfolk’s WJAG and its later FM KEXL from 1951 to 1985. From 1964 to 1985 he also served as executive vice president of KCOL AM/FM Fort Collins, CO. During the ’60s and early ’70s, his Beef Empire Group also […]
Floyd Kalber
CLASS OF 1972 Floyd Kalber (aka “The Big Tuna”) was born in Omaha on December 23rd,1924. Returning home after two years in the army during World War II he enrolled in the journalism department of Creighton University but dropped out after a semester to work at KGFW in Kearney. From there he went to a […]
Merle Jones
CLASS OF 1972 Born in Omaha, Merle Jones was a 1925 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a 1929 graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Law. Jones started in radio at WAAW, Omaha, the station destined to become KOWH, KMEO, and today’s KCRO. He later served as general manager of four stations […]
L. L. Hilliard
CLASS OF 1972 L.L “Les” Hilliard was the founder and president of KOLT Radio in Scottsbluff. He was born in Illinois and graduated from Iowa State University in 1925. He traveled all over Nebraska in sales and settled in Scottsbluff where he took a job selling GE household appliances. While there, one of his radio […]
Lyle DeMoss
CLASS OF 1972 Lyle DeMoss was a popular air personality on KFAB Lincoln (the station didn’t move to Omaha until 1947), WOW Omaha, and later KBON/KLNG in Omaha. DeMoss became interested in radio while in high school in 1923, often stopping at a friend’s house on his way home to announce and sing over his pal’s […]
Richard Chapin
CLASS OF 1972 Richard W. Chapin got his start in broadcasting in March, 1953, joining radio station KFOR as an Account Executive,. By September he was named General Sales Manager and the following year was named General Manager of KFOR Radio and Television. In 1958, he was elected Vice President of Stuart Investment Company, the Parent […]
Ralph Beaudin
CLASS OF 1972 The life of Ralph W. Beaudin was marked by the undeniable impact he made on both the broadcasting industry and the lives he touched along the way. A native of Omaha, Mr. Beaudin served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1945-1951 before returning to Omaha embarking on his career in radio. He […]
Charles Arnot
CLASS OF 1972 Charles P. Arnot was born in Scribner, Nebraska and lived in Fremont where he later graduated from Midland Luthern College. Arnot began his foreign reporting career with United Press International wire service covering the Pacific theater in World War II. He saw plenty of battles and watched the sinking of the U.S.S. […]
John Gillin, Jr.
CLASS OF 1973 John J. Gillin, Jr. was in broadcasting for more than a quarter of a century, much of that as point man for WOW where he rose from announcer to president. Gillin had landed his first commercial radio job in Chicago just two years before coming to Omaha. He joined WOW in 1929 […]
Frank Fogarty
CLASS OF 1974 Long-time general manager of Omaha stations WOW (AM590), WOW-FM, and WOW-TV (Channel 6), Frank Fogarty also headed the broadcasting division of the Meredith Corporation. Fogarty took over WOW’s management reins in August 1950 succeeding the late John Gillin, soon rising to VP of Meredith Broadcasting in the coming years. He was president […]