CLASS OF 2004
Ron Hull played a major role during the formative years of public television. His belief was that TV should be a mix of entertainment and education. Ron’s achievements helped make the state’s public broadcasting system among the best in the industry.
Hull came to Lincoln from his home state of South Dakota in 1955, hired by Jack McBride as just the fifth employee at KUON-TV when it first went on the air. He had earned his master’s degree in television at Syracuse University and went on to a doctorate at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
His producer/director position led to many years as manager of KUON-TV and Associate General Manager of the Nebraska Educational Television Network. His work led to interviews and lifelong friendships with some of Nebraska’s most famous personalities including Mari Sandoz, John Neihardt, and Dick Cavett, and to developing a television network in war-torn Vietnam.
To help preserve interviews, Hull helped gain state funding to create the Nebraska Video Heritage Library, an archive of programs and filming done by public television.
During six years with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s, Hull assisted in launching The American Experience series and helped bring Bill Moyer back to PBS.
Ron Hull retired in 2003 and remained Special Advisor to the NET and Professor Emeritus of Broadcasting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and was often on an international adventure or working on charitable projects.
Ron passed away April 20, 2023.
