NATAS Rocky Mountain Southwest

SILVER Circle

SOCIETY MEMBERS

The Silver Circle is not an award; it’s a society of honor.
Television professionals are inducted to recognize significant contributions made by these individuals to our industry for 25 years or more.

F — H

Felipe Corral
Fran Sherlock
Frank Camacho
Frank Peddie
Fredric Leigh
Gary Schafer
Gary Stafford
Gary Wenzlaff
George Allen
George Kay
George Wallace
Gilbert Parra
Gilbert Zermeño
Gina Santiago
Guy Atchley
Hector Gonzalez
Homer Lane
Howard Morgan
Howard Shepherd

Abbie Smith

INDUCTED: 2015

"After starting her career at KARE-TV in Minneapolis, Abbie was convinced in 1986 to move to Phoenix and KTVK-TV by then-KTVK News Director Phil Alvidrez. During her 16 years at KTVK, Abbie served as a field producer, the executive producer for news, the executive producer for special projects and the director for local programming. Abbie was one of the main people responsible for transforming a perennial last place newscast into the top-rated news show in Phoenix during the late 1980s and early 1990s. When KTVK became an independent station in 1994, Abbie developed and produced Brainstorm, a science show for kids, and KJ & Kids, a show hosted by then-Phoenix Suns star Kevin Johnson. Abbie also developed and oversaw Cooking with Beth and Bill, Under the Hood with Mark Salem, Southwest Style with Jan D’Atri, Home with Terri O and The Garden Guy. When KTVK carried the Arizona Diamondbacks’ games, Abbie developed programming for the team, from before their inaugural game through the 2001 World Series.

After spending five years with Cox/Channel 4 in San Diego, where she produced a number of successful local programs, Abbie returned to Phoenix to be an original member of the start-up team for The List, a daily half-hour news/entertainment show produced by Scripps Broadcasting. Today, Abbie is the Managing Editor of The List, which airs throughout the U.S. and has bureaus in five other cities in addition to Phoenix."

Al Macias

INDUCTED: 2000

"Al Macias has built and managed news teams in four Phoenix newsrooms over the past 30 years. After earning a journalism degree from ASU, Macias was an assignment editor for KTVK-TV, before spending 13 years in news room management positions at KPNX-TV. In 1994, Macias moved over to KNXV-TV, where he oversaw the rapid growth of a newsroom from 20 to more than 60 people in less than a year after the station became an ABC affiliate.

Macias takes great pride in his public service work. He is a founding board member of the Arizona Latino Media Association and is part of the Raul H. Castro Institute Advisory Committee. He also served as Maricopa County’s communications director and spent time as a Partnership Specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau.

Today, Macias is the News Director of KJZZ-FM, the NPR station in Phoenix. Macias not only oversees the daily operations of KJZZ’s newsroom, but also the Fronteras: the Changing America Desk, which has bureaus in Hermosillo and Mexico City, and covers the giant swath of desert that ranges from southern Utah all the way to Sinaloa, Mexico, an area nearly 50,000 square miles that is home to more than 14 million people.

Al McCoy

INDUCTED: 2000

Al McCoy has been called the dean of NBA play-by-play announcers and has been “The Voice of the Suns” for 40 memorable years, nearly the length of the franchise’s existence. He is the Sr. Vice President, Broadcasting for the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Phoenix Suns.

McCoy first hit the air during a preseason game on September 27, 1972, and has been synonymous with Suns basketball ever since. From “Shazam” to “Zing Go the Strings” to “Heartbreak Hotel,” McCoy has cultivated an unparalleled style.

McCoy will forever be remembered for his call in the 1976 Suns-Celtics NBA Finals at Boston Garden when he had to fling an inebriated fan off his lap as he was describing “The Shot Heard ‘Round The World” by Garfield Heard that sent the game into the third of three overtimes.

The 2012-13 season will mark his 41st season and he will call play-by-play action on KTAR Radio and the Suns radio network. McCoy’s term with the Suns is the longest consecutive run with one team among current NBA broadcasters. His many contributions to the sport were recognized when he received the 18th Annual Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame during Enshrinement Weekend in September 2007 in Springfield, Mass. The Suns honored him with the Al McCoy Media Center, dedicated in October 2007.

In 2012, Phoenix Magazine named McCoy the best play-by-play announcer in their annual “Best of the Valley” issue for the 14th consecutive year. He’s the only broadcaster to win the award since it debuted in 1999. McCoy was honored with induction into the Silver Circle Society by the Rocky Mountain Southwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the House of Broadcasting Museum. He also became the first play-by-play announcer to be inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame on Oct. 19, 2004.

McCoy’s broadcasting career began in 1951 at KJFJ Radio in Webster City, Iowa when he was a freshman at Drake University. In 1958, he arrived in Arizona to do play-by-play for the Triple-A Phoenix Giants baseball club. He has also covered Phoenix Roadrunners hockey, Arizona State football and basketball and filled in as a backup for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A native of Williams, Iowa, a tiny farming community, McCoy was a member of his high school basketball team and was influenced by legendary broadcasters Harry Caray, Bert Wilson and Jack Brickhouse. He received his degree in drama-speech from Drake University and performed graduate work at the University of Iowa. In 1994, McCoy received Drake’s Alumni Achievement Award.

He and wife Georgia, a Valley artist, have three sons: Mike, and twins Jay and Jerry. A culinary critic, he is the club’s expert on gourmet restaurants around the league. McCoy is an accomplished jazz pianist.

Anita Favela Luera

INDUCTED: 2004

Anita Favela Luera, Director, High School Journalism InstituteAnita Luera, an award-winning journalist who has played a pivotal role in the advancement of Latinos in the news industry, currently directs the Cronkite High School Journalism Institute. She manages a range of programs and outreach efforts that expose students to journalism and support high school journalism programs at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Luera was the first woman news director at a Phoenix television station, running the news department for the Spanish-language Univision affiliate KTVW. She worked in newsrooms at KPNX, the NBC affiliate in Phoenix and KOOL-TV, now Fox 10. She is a long-time officer and board member of the Arizona Latino Media Association and was inducted into the Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame in 2018.

Barbara Grijalva

INDUCTED: 2012

Born and raised in Tucson, and a graduate of the University of Arizona, Barbara is a unique, homegrown personality. For 34 years, Barbara worked tirelessly to provide Tucson and Southern Arizona with the most relevant and updated news, both local and national, and is considered a living legend by her coworkers and viewers. During her time on KOLD News 13, Barbara was flexible in her reporting, working as both an anchor and a reporter in the field; in \times of need, Barbara could always be counted on by her team to get the job done. Above all, Barbara Grijalva is a trusted professional whose reporting is always defined by the facts. Upon her retirement in 2017 Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva (no relation) in a declaration on the house floor remarked “In these times, the loss of a journalist of Barbara’s caliber is significant. Her talent, demeanor and style will be missed coming into our homes and our minds. We thank Barbara for the contributions and impact she has given us and we wish her well in her next adventure.”

She was inducted into the Silver Circle in 2012.

Bert Sass

INDUCTED: 2003

Bert is from Grand Island, Nebraska and studied Broadcast Journalism and Film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduating in 1975. He worked at both KGUN-TV, Channel 9 in Tucson and KPNX-TV, Channel 12 in Phoenix, before retiring.

Mr. Sass is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society. Bert and his wife, Sharon, live in Phoenix, Arizona.

Beth Vershure

INDUCTED: 2003

Beth served as station manager at PBS’ KAET-TV Channel 8 in Arizona. Beth was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Silver Circle Society in 2003. She was also a Public Television Programming Association’s Golden Grid Award Recipient in 2006.

Bill Anderson

INDUCTED: 2022

In 1979 when a marketing internship during college in Milwaukee at WITI – TV turned into a job offer, Bill Anderson started his journey along an incredible career in the industry. From floor crew to news and production manager to director of promotion and operations and Station Marketing and Operations Manager, Bill learned the full spectrum of television station jobs at WQOW in Eau Claire, KCRG in Cedar Rapids and WGGB in Springfield Massachusetts. These station assignments cemented a career-long appreciation for the importance of ideas and determination over market limitations.

On the way to becoming a GM, Bill won an Emmy in 1993 when he created Flood Aid: Broadcast Across America for the American Red Cross, a National Telethon with 255 TV stations coast-to-coast agreeing to simulcast this program for the benefit of those ruined by the great Iowa floods that year. In just 11 days Bill enlisted the help of competitors and convinced NBC to lend Willard Scott, ABC to send Spencer Christian and CBS to provide actor-comedian Jay Thomas. Barry Manilow got involved with a song, and the NAB urged all its members to air it. In the end, Flood Aid raised $8.5M in one night and earned the distinction of being both the largest TV network in history but also one of the largest single-event Red Cross fundraisers.

For Bill personally, Flood Aid provided a glimpse of the power of Local TV to do good, and inspired a desire to become a GM who harnesses the talents of others to do well and to do good with a public license. He soon got his first GM posting in Tallahassee, FL at WTWC-TV and from there to WGME, Portland finally landing at KRQE in Albuquerque in 1999. Since then he has expanded the operation into a four Station “Quad” configuration which includes KRQE (CBS), FOXNM as well as KWBQ and KASY all known as KRQE Media.

Bill has always remembered those lessons from early in his career and focused on the community and supporting/encouraging individuals and their talents. His involvement in our region has included roles on the board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the March of Dimes, United Way Mission Families and he has been named New Mexico Broadcaster GM of the Year. Bill takes a personal interest in helping others and perhaps no better example is when he mentored and then hired a man transitioning back to society after a decade in the New Mexico state prison system. He did the same for a homeless man in the area.

Bill’s partner and wife, Debbie have been together 42 years and raised three children and enjoy 5 grandchildren.

Bill Buckmaster

INDUCTED: 2003

Bill Buckmaster has interviewed more than five thousand newsmakers and has earned the reputation as Tucson’s most trusted voice for news and information. Beginning his career in 1969, he edited three monthly trade magazines based in Phoenix and went on to serve as a broadcast editor for the Associated Press. Buckmaster moved on to news director spots in Sierra Vista, Arizona, Visalia, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada.

He quickly became a fixture with television anchor positions at KICU-TV, San Jose-San Francisco and at KUAT-TV, PBS-Tucson. As the driving force behind KUAT-TV’s “Arizona Illustrated,” the iconic Arizona PBS news and public affairs program, Buckmaster created the broadcast “town square” for the issues that matter most to Southern Arizona residents.

His dedication to the community has not gone unnoticed. The Tucson Chapter of the American Advertising Federation named Bill its 2011 Golden Mic Award Recipient. In 2010, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department presented Bill with its highest civilian honor, The Citizen Medal. Over the past two decades, he has earned five individual Emmy^® Award nominations, and in 2003 was inducted into Silver Circle of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He’s earned an Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Achievement Award, and a best of Tucson award from Tucson Lifestyle Magazine. Another welcomed honor was Bill Buckmaster’s name on an asteroid—only one other broadcaster has had such an honor, the legendary Walter Cronkite.

In 2010, Bill formed Bill Buckmaster Communications, L.L.C., which produces the Buckmaster Show. In 2015, Bill was inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame by the Arizona Broadcasters Association. Also in 2015, The Tucson Weekly named Bill Tucson’s Best Radio Talk Show Host. In August of 2016, Bill was inducted into the Nevada Broadcast Hall of Fame by the Nevada Broadcasters Association honoring his radio news reporting in Las Vegas in the 1970’s.

Bill is a graduate of the University of Arizona and earned his Master of Education degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Bill has an Honorable Discharge from the United States Army.

Bill and his wife Ann have been married for 44 years and together they have traveled the world, visiting 100 countries, all 50 states and most of Canada’s provinces. Along the way, they have collected memories, experiences, and a better understanding of the world.

Bill Denney

INDUCTED: 1996

DECEASED

William (Bill) Forrest Denney was born on December 28, 1931 in Paris, Illinois. He played baseball at Phoenix’s North High School and pitched in the minor leagues and the semi-pro Cotton Kings team from Casa Grande, AZ.

Bill worked for two decades at KPNX-TV Channel 12 and 10 years at KSAZ-TV, Channel 10, both in Phoenix. He was honored with Silver Circle Society Lifetime Membership in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1996. He won First Place in the Arizona Associated Press Awards for his “Olympic Dragnet” work in 1985. After retiring in 1998, he did some commercials and filled in as a play-by-play announcer for the Arizona Diamondback Baseball team.

Bill passed away following pancreatic cancer surgery, on August 28, 2000 at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife, Joan, his five children and his grandchildren. A public memorial was held for Bill at the Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State University.

Bill Leverton

Bill was born in Dallas, Texas, and raised pretty much in Northern New Mexico. After his four years in the Air Force, he wound up in Albuquerque where he got a job at KGGM-TV as a photographer, which amazed him since when the man interviewing him handed him a camera to look at, Bill held it upside down and then had to convince the man, no, he was just joking! Of course, he knew how to operate a camera! He learned quickly, and moved over to KOB-TV, also in Albuquerque, as a reporter/photographer. In 1973 he got a job at KOOL-Television in Phoenix, a CBS affiliate at the time. A few years later his expertise at finding the small, interesting places to visit in the state and his profiles of fascinating “real” people impressed his bosses enough that they made him Feature Editor and gave him his own franchise, “On the Arizona Road with Bill Leverton.” Over his 26 years there he won numerous awards, including his induction into the NATAS Silver Circle Society.

Bill retired from the Channel 10 newsroom, then called Fox Ten News, in 1999. He free lanced video projects and photography for a while, eventually moving back to Northern New Mexico where he and his wife Bonnie lived for almost 20 years. They now reside in Rio Rancho, New Mexico with their cat, BW, who runs the world.

Bill Miller

Bill Miller began his career in broadcasting in 1962 at KOOL-TV in Phoenix, where he started as a member of the floor crew and earned the then-minimum wage of $368 a month. Bill worked newscasts and live commercials in the studio and on an outdoor set that was used for car commercials. Over the next 24 years at KOOL, Bill worked a variety of jobs before becoming News Director. In 1986, Bill joined KTVK-TV as station manager and two years later was named vice president and chief operating officer. Bill was named president and general manager of KTVK in 1999. During his time at KTVK, Miller also managed KASW-TV (WB), the Arizona NewsChannel, a cable news joint venture with Cox Cable, KESZ-FM radio and Phoenix Magazine. When KTVK lost its network affiliation in 1994, Miller led the effort to transform KTVK into one of the more successful independent stations in the country. This included the creation of Good Morning Arizona, which quickly became the model for local TV morning shows throughout the country, as well as several locally produced programs,

Bill helped found MagicDust Television in 2000. Today, MagicDust produces RightThisMinute, Arizona’s first daily, nationally syndicated television show, which currently airs in 141 markets.

Bill has served on the ABC Affiliates Board, the Board of Directors of Northern Trust Bank and has served as board chairman of the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Barrow Neurological Foundation and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix.

Bill Ottinger

INDUCTED: 2012

Bill serves as Creative Director for Cox Media in Phoenix, Arizona where he oversees the development of multi-platform advertising solutions for Cox clients. His career in media is broad with experience in advertising, broadcasting, local news and marketing and promotion.

Before arriving at Cox, Bill served as the Creative Services Manager for KTVK 3TV, KASW CW6 and azfamily.com in Phoenix. Bill spent 20 years marketing and promoting news and entertainment programming for one of the country’s top-rated independent television stations.

Prior to moving to Arizona, Bill began his career behind a radio microphone in Knoxville, Tennessee. When WTVK TV came calling, Bill jumped into his first role as a news photographer and later became a reporter and weekend weather anchor. He was chosen to be the host of a weekly human interest feature segment and relocated to WKXT (now WVLT), the CBS affiliate. As the “The Tennessee Traveler,” Bill traveled East Tennessee looking for interesting people doing interesting things.

Smaller markets mean everyone does more than one job and Bill took advantage of the opportunity by producing promos for his Traveler segments. With new skills under his belt and a promo reel in hand, Bill landed a writer/producer’s job at KTSP [now KSAZ] in Phoenix. It was there that Bill earned his first Emmy^® nomination.

Bill is active in his community, serving as the President for the East Valley Boys Service Club and as a member of the Tempe Diablos, a local charity/civic organization in Tempe, AZ. He has also coached youth baseball and basketball.

Bill positively bleeds orange for his University of Tennessee Volunteers where he graduated with a B.S. in Communcations. Go Vols!

Over the course of his career, Bill has received numerous Rocky Mountain Emmys, Promax awards for television promotion, a Phoenix Addy award and was recently inducted into the Silver Circle of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of NATAS.

Bill Stull

Bill was born in Los Angeles, California, November 18, 1933, as William Stull III. He was a 31-year veteran of the television news industry, serving at Phoenix NBC Affiliate, KPNX TV, Channel 12, formerly KTAR TV, until 1979. He served there for over 20 years, as a reporter and anchor. Stull is a member of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Silver Circle Society and a regional Emmy^® recipient. Bill is also a past Chapter President of the organization. Bill passed away in Phoenix, Arizona on December 29, 2000 at the age of 67.

Bob Adlhoch

INDUCTED: 2017

If you have ever watched and enjoyed the Phoenix Suns on television, it is no doubt because of Bob Adlhoch.

The Phoenix Suns hired Bob in 2001 as their TV producer and director. He was later promoted to Executive Producer, overseeing content for, producing and directing Suns game broadcasts on Fox Sports Arizona.

Bob has been part of the sports production community in the Valley since 1990. After graduating with honors from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University with a BA in broadcast journalism, he worked for 5 years as a freelance graphics operator and producer.

Bob also worked at Cox Communications producing and directing live sporting events as well as studio programs. He was part of the team behind the channel launch of Cox 9 (now Cox 7) and was instrumental in the live Thursday night high school football broadcasts that have since become a programming staple for Cox.

A past recipient of 20 Rocky Mountain Emmy^® Awards for producing, directing and graphic design, Bob was also selected to the Phoenix Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 program in 2009. In 2017 he was inducted into the prestigious Silver Circle Society in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Bob is a long-time member of both NATAS’ local board of governors and executive committee as well as the chapter’s past-president and national past trustee, has been elected to a two-year term on the National Emmy^® Awards Committee, which oversees the Daytime Emmys^®, News/Documentary Emmys^®, Sports Emmys^® and Technology/Engineering Emmys^®. In his role, Adlhoch will serve as the voice of NATAS’ regional chapters to the national governing body.

Being a masterful producer and director of sports for television is what Bob does. Being a devoted husband to Kellie, an amazing father to MacKinley and Jackson, and being an example of a true friend and involved citizen in his community, is who Bob is.

Bob Ellis

INDUCTED: 1992

Bob was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He served in the U.S. Army. When he was discharged, he visited family in Phoenix and ended up staying to attended Arizona State College (now ASU). He graduated in 1953, with a degree in Speech. That same year he started working at Arizona’s first radio station, KOY, as an announcer. That’s where he met his boss, and future wife, Frankie. They were married soon after and had three children.

In 1959 he went back to ASU, which had just become a university. There, he helped lead the start of KAET, which was launched and went on the air in 1961, as part of National Education Television, supported by the Ford Foundation. KAET became a Public Broadcasting (PBS) affiliate in 1967. Bob was also involved with the Phoenix Television Academy, now the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), serving in many roles, including president. He remained at KAET as general manager until his retirement in 1989. Immediately after his retirement, he accepted a part-time assignment to work in the University Relations Office and eventually took charge of organizing university retirees into a viable force. Not only was Ellis a former staff member, but he also had served on the faculty and thus could represent both groups of retirees. He remained in this role for several years until his retirement.

Bob was inducted as a charter member of the NATAS Silver Circle in 1992 and is a past president of the chapter.

Bob Lee

INDUCTED: 2010

Bob is an outstanding broadcaster dedicated to serving his community. Bob has served in all phases of broadcasting and has worked at stations from Lancaster Pennsylvania to Tucson (and back again). From 1969 to 1996, Bob worked at radio stations KTKT, KHOS, KCUB, KAIR, KGMX, KRQQ, KNST, WSBA, KNST and KCEE.

Bob’s television career began at WGAL-TV in 1958 to 1961 where he worked in all phases of production. He then turned up at KVOA-TV (co-owned by WGAL-TV at that time) in Tucson as a director from 1963 to 1965 when he became Operations and Program Manager from 1965 to 1973. Bob took a break from television to go back to radio and the United Way from 1973 to 1997. He then joined KMSB-TV/KTTU-TV in Tucson in 1997 and is currently the Community Relations Coordinator and Public Affairs Director for the stations.

Community service has always been part of Bob’s commitment. He has been involved in non-profits in Tucson for over 40 years, serving on the boards of Awareness House and Open Inn. He has been involved with the Tucson Rape Crisis Center, CODEC, 88-Crime, the Tucson-Pima Arts Council, the Tucson Fund-Raising Review Board and the Tucson Advertising Club.

In his current position at KMSB-TV/KTTU-TV, Bob helps numerous non-profits by producing and airing public service campaigns. He has one of the only weekly scheduled public affairs programs on Tucson Broadcast television and uses it benefit the entire community.

Bonnie Leverton

Bonnie was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and moved with her family to Phoenix when she was six years old. In her junior year at Arizona State University she had the opportunity to get a job at KOOL Radio-Television, Inc., in Phoenix. She worked her way through working at the radio station, then the station’s promotion department, and then got her dream job…working for Special Projects in the News Department. She wrote and produced about 100 documentaries and special programs over the next 30 years, winning several awards in the process including being inducted into the NATAS Silver Circle Society. The station changed hands several times, finally ending up as a FOX owned and operated station. The last two of the 32 years she was at the station were spent doing special programming and anchor packages for the news department. In 2001 she took early retirement to move to Northern New Mexico with her husband Bill to live in a round adobe house. Almost 20 years later, she now resides in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, with Bill and the cat.

Brian Cisek

INDUCTED: 2022

Brian Cisek is the original Creative Services Director and Production Manager at AZTV 7, Arizona’s only locally-owned and operated independent station. Television and media were not Brian’s original plan for a career. He began his journey as an Astronomy/Physics major at the University of Arizona. The summer of his sophomore year he visited KUAT, the PBS station on campus, and was immediately hooked.

Brian began his television career in New York, where he worked as an engineer/operator at Staten Island Teleport before moving to production manager at WLIG, an independent station on Long Island. In 1995, Brian and his wife moved to Phoenix where he landed a part-time job at FOX10 working as master control, tape and audio operator. He then took a full-time job at KUTP and the new United Paramount Network (UPN) as a promotions producer and line-producer for Phoenix Suns games. He found himself back at FOX10 when FOX Broadcasting Company bought the station in 2001.

When KAZT-TV (AZTV) began in 2002, Brian was brought in to get the new start-up operating, and he never left. To Lynn Londen, station owner, “Brian has made himself indispensable as an integral part of all station operations and any success we achieve.” He is the creative force behind the station’s brand as well as wearing many other hats: producer, director, graphic designer, editor, photographer, promotions and outreach coordinator. “His willingness to provide whatever a client requests, and his desire to over-deliver has earned him incredibly strong relationships in the business,” says Rick Soltesz, station GM. Brian also developed and maintains the station’s internship program, and is proud to have helped in launching many promising careers. In addition, “Brian provides guidance to many independent program producers, helping to get their projects launched on broadcast TV,” according to Michael Petry, Creative Content Manager,

Brian is a board member with the Arizona Broadcasters Association, recipient of Vitalant’s Media Person for the Year award, and enjoys speaking with high school CTE students and educators about his broadcast knowledge and experiences. Brian is also a regular blood donor, supports local charities and enjoys coaching youth soccer. Brian and his wife Maureen have been married for 28 years and have three daughters: Nicole, Kathryn, and Emily.

Bruce Cooper

INDUCTED: 2018

Bruce Cooper currently works as the sports director of 12 News Sports. He began working at the station in 1986 as a weekend sports editor. His duties and job titles evolved to include producer, reporter, fill-in anchor and weekend sports anchor.

Coop, as he is fondly called, is an absolute sports nut. As a result, he’s usually left outside the box when socializing with friends and family. Conversations concerning pop culture tend to render him clueless.

He is a native Arizonan and a graduate of Arizona State University. Coop has covered some of the biggest sporting events, like the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and BCS Championship games. He has also covered the game’s biggest stars.

He also has a passion for high school sports.

Bruce Dunbar

INDUCTED: 2009

Bruce (Robert) Dunbar, age 61, was born in San Diego, CA. He graduated from San Diego State and was a member of the San Diego State golf team. Bruce had an award-winning career in broadcast journalism being recognized with 6 Emmy^® Awards, 4 Reporter of the Year awards and was a member of the prestigious NATAS Silver Circle Society. He started his career in radio and later became a news anchor and reporter in Fort Wayne, IN; Norfolk, VA; Tulsa, OK; Oklahoma City, OK and Louisville, KY. Bruce and his wife Kathy moved to Phoenix in 1995 where he worked at Fox News channel KSAZ until his retirement in July of 2009. Bruce was an avid collector of Disney Art as well as 1st edition and rare books by a variety of authors. He also loved animals and in particular his best little buddy, Mickey, their cockatiel. Bruce passed away in 2010 at the age of 61, following a courageous battle with cancer.

Bruce Haffner

INDUCTED: 2021

Don’t tell Bruce Haffner it can’t be done. Let’s start with his years as a student and fresh out of ASU, when everyone wanted to be part of the newest craze -- the music video. There you found Bruce Haffner, helping produce an MTV-style show showcasing the likes of U2, B.B. King and Rod Stewart.

Then it was on to yet another competitive, high octane vocation -- TV news. As a television news cameraman covering stories around the country and across Arizona, Haffner earned 15 Emmy Awards. “While most of us know Bruce Haffner as the helicopter pilot and reporter on Phoenix airwaves for years, he is also an amazing photographer and editor,” says former KTVK executive producer Abbie Smith. “His storytelling abilities behind the camera were among the best in the business, capturing the beauty and the challenges of people and places all over Arizona. But it was telling stories from the air that he loved the most, so while he was doing his day job as a photographer and editor for NewsChannel 3, he was also working to get his pilot/helicopter license so he could live his dream.”

And once he got that pilot’s license, Haffner transformed his career into a helicopter pilot. And not just any helicopter pilot. Given his news experience, he took his TV photography experience in the air and calls his helicopter “just an expensive tripod.” Haffner also supplied support for reporters on the ground while they covered breaking news. “Whenever we were entering the Gates of Hell on the ground,” says former KTVK reporter Mike Watkiss, who from time to time has used his share of colorful descriptions, “it was always comforting to know Haffner was up in the sky looking out for us and guiding us in.”

In 2009, Haffner saw his career change dramatically when KTVK sold its helicopter. Two years later, he bought his own helicopter and launched CHOPPERGUY to provide top quality aviation aerial video production and news coverage for KTVK and later KPHO CBS 5 as well. His company also shoots aerials for production companies, ad agencies and CHOPPERGUY even has a few movie credits on the big screen.

Haffner’s 25-year run as a Pilot/Reporter for KTVK-TV3 and CBS 5 ended in 2020. Now he produces THE CHOPPERGUY SHOW on his CHOPPERGUY YouTube channel.

“Drones take great pictures from on high at a cost that’s low,” says former KTVK news director Phil Alvidrez. “But Bruce Haffner took viewers with him on daily adventures, and his storytelling rides were worth every penny. Phoenix television is poorer without him in the sky.”

If Haffner’s career proves anything, it is that we shouldn’t be surprised when he recreates himself once again.

Bud Foster

INDUCTED: 2006

Bud was born in Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from Ball State University where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration. His graduate studies brought him to Arizona. He studied journalism at Arizona State University (ASU) and political science at the University of Arizona.

He has spent more than 40 years in the news industry in Arizona, having started in the studios of KAET at ASU in 1973. He quickly moved to NBC Channel 12 in Phoenix and at KOOL-TV, the Phoenix CBS affiliate. He came to Tucson in 1980 as an anchor for Channel 4. He moved to KOLD News 13 in 1994 as the anchor of the evening broadcasts.

Bud was inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame in October 2009. He was also honored with an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2010, one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. Bud has been nominated four times for an Emmy^® Award and won 30 other awards, including several Arizona Press Club Awards. He has been inducted into the prestigious Silver Circle by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his many years of contributions to the television industry.

Bud brings credibility, market experience and knowledge of the city to KOLD-TV. He enjoys getting to meet new people every day and getting to wrestle with the issues of the city and surrounding communities.

His participation in the world of news is equaled by his participation in the community. He’s served on a dozen different boards, including Amity, the Brewster Center, the Juvenile Diabetes Association and Parent Connection.

Bud said “I think the most important thing is to give back to your community.” He devotes his off time to his wife, Maureen, their dogs, golf and scuba diving. He has a daughter, Victoria, and his grandchildren.

C.E. "Pep" Cooney

C.E. “Pep” Cooney was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, he learned his sense of community growing up in America’s heartland during the Great Depression. He loved and excelled at sports, particularly in wrestling and baseball, and earned the Eagle Scout badge as a Boy Scout. Pep attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Utah, majoring in marketing and advertising, two areas of study that would serve him well during his long, distinguished and successful career in the television industry. His imaginative marketing served him well in another area: he proposed to his wife, Cheri, in a TV commercial. His 44-year professional career began in advertising and program sales, earning him Salesman of the Year honors at 3M Corporation. He joined KRON-TV in San Francisco, eventually becoming general manager and then president of Chronicle Broadcasting. He moved to Phoenix in 1977 as president and general manager of KPNX-TV Channel 12 until 1995. During his tenure, television was taking on an entirely new direction through technology and growing as rapidly as the Valley of the Sun. Pep played a key role in the expansion and reach of both and his legacy remains as strong today as it did when he retired as president of KPNX Broadcasting Co. and senior vice president of Gannett Broadcasting in 1998. Over the years, Pep devoted much of his time and his energies to many civic, business and professional organizations. He served as United Way Campaign Chairman and on the Samaritan Health Service Board of Directors; the KPNX-TV Minority Advisory Board; the NCCJ Board of Directors, which he chaired from 1988-90; the First Amendment Coalition Board of Directors; the Theodore Roosevelt Council of the Boy Scouts of America Executive Board; the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors, for whom he served as director and president; the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University; Harris Trust Bank and United Blood Services, Inc. Two scholarship funds have been established in his name at Arizona State University, the C.E. Pep Cooney Leadership Scholarship at the Cronkite School and in the College of Public Programs. Pep received numerous awards including Distinguished Citizen from the Phoenix Union High School District; All City’s Honor Convocation; Distinguished Eagle Scout Award; Distinguished Achievement Award by the College of Public Programs at Arizona State University; and the Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai B’rith “Torch of Liberty Award.” He was a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society. Mr. Cooney passed away in 2003 at the age of 70.

Carey Olson

INDUCTED: 2015

Carey has been described as “not just the chief photographer for KRQE, but really for all of Albuquerque.” Carey’s broadcast career started in 1980 as a production assistant at KPAX-TV Missoula, Montana. He later served as a production manager for KRTV-TV in Great Falls, Montana for three years before moving to Albuquerque in 1984 to be a photographer at KGGM-TV, which later became KRQE-TV. Carey stayed at KRQE for 31 years, where he eventually became chief photographer and was noted for the mentoring and fire training that he provided to all photographers in Albuquerque. Over the years, he was heavily involved in the planning and execution of all of KRQE’s special projects from the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival to elections to presidential visits. Carey retired in 2015 and today lives in Missoula, Montana with his wife, Mary.

Carol Lynde

INDUCTED: 2003

Carol Lynde began her 40+ year career in TV as a news photographer at KTVK in Phoenix. After four years, this Arizona girl let her videography and editing skills take her across the country. She spent seven years at WAGA in Atlanta as a news photographer and editor, then moved to WGNX, also in Atlanta, where she was chief photographer for six years.

Then she did something odd. At the height of her television career, she packed up and moved to Great Falls, Montana to work for KRTV in their video production department. “Not everyone considers it a good career move to go from the 10th market to the 183rd, but it was the best thing I have ever done for myself personally. Montana was wonderful. I consider my time there a three-year working vacation.” But the vacation eventually ended when she moved to Denver and KWGN, where she was assignment manager for the news department. “My first and, I hope, last desk job. I can honestly say I tried it, and it confirmed what I already knew-I want to be in the field shooting video.”

The search for a new and challenging video position brought her back to Arizona and the PBS station KAET. Then in 2004, when a video producer position opened at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, she jumped at it. As part of a three person video department she produced Arizona Wildlife Views, a 13-week half hour series that aired on Arizona PBS and community stations across the state. “Throughout my career, I have always been drawn to stories that involve nature and the outdoors and this job took me all over Arizona, telling the stories of the fabulous array of wildlife who live here.”

She has earned 22 Regional Emmy^® Awards and dozens of other broadcasting and film festival awards during her career. She has served on the NATAS Board of Governors for three chapters; Southeast, Heartland and Rocky Mountain Southwest.

In 2016 Carol retired as Video Production Manager from Game and Fish, but continues to run her own production company, Tall Paul Productions, specializing in wildlife and outdoor videos.

Carole Mikita

INDUCTED: 2013

Carole grew up in Steubenville, Ohio and graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. She had planned to perform on Broadway, however, a friend from a local radio station introduced her to the world of broadcast journalism so she took classes in writing and reporting. She later landed had a job in the news department of a station in her home town and developed a love of telling other people’s stories. She got a job as a nighttime anchor in a small news department in Pittsburgh, which soon afforded her opportunities to work in bigger markets. After her brother, Steve, moved to Utah to attend law school, she followed him there and began working at KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, in 1979.

Mikita has won a regional Emmy^® Award for “Gideon’s Story” and is a member of the Rocky Mountain Emmy’s Silver Circle Society. She has also received awards from the Society for Professional Journalists and the Utah Broadcasters Association for both news stories and documentaries. She was honored in 1994 by the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation, in 1996 by the Assistance League of Utah as a “Woman of Distinction,” and in 2000 by the Utah-California Women’s Association, with its Legacy Award. Carole has hosted the Primary Children’s Medical Center Telethon for more than 20 years. Carole also speaks to and participates in a number of community and church organizations.

She is married to Neil York, an American history professor at Brigham Young University. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Caitlin, and grandchildren.

Cary Pfeffer

INDUCTED: 2003

From top executives and political leaders to television personalities and sports legends, Cary Pfeffer has provided direction and advice to make sure each of them is better at telling their story. For 16 years Cary has run his Phoenix-based firm, ClearComm Consulting.

Before opening his consulting practice, he spent more than 20 years as a news reporter and anchor, listening to news makers and everyday people tell their stories. Story telling is so important to Cary that he wrote an award-winning book designed to help people tell their story. “There’s Not an App for That!”Chronicles strategies and approaches anyone can use to connect.

In Cary’s world, when we are at our best we connect.

Catherine Anaya

INDUCTED: 2017

Some people are just naturals. In December 2004, Catherine Anaya was at the KPHO-TV holiday party when a co-worker asked her if she was interested in joining the station’s team to run in the Phoenix Rock n’ Roll half marathon the following month. Catherine had never run more than five miles before and, other than being a high school cheerleader in Costa Mesa, California, she had never participated in an organized sport. But, perhaps as the result of one glass of wine too many, Catherine agreed to join KPHO’s half marathon team. After awaking the next morning to the realization that the race was last than a month away, Catherine bought some running shoes. A few weeks later, she ran the half marathon and enjoyed it. She signed up for the full marathon the following year, and not only enjoyed that, but discovered afterward that her time was only a few minutes shy of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. The following year, Catherine ran her second Rock n’ Roll marathon, and this time she qualified for Boston. On April 16, 2007, Catherine Anaya ran the Boston Marathon. She was 39 years old and had been running for only 27 months. Catherine has since run the Boston Marathon two more times…to date.

What sort of person does that? Catherine Anaya does that.

Catherine’s broadcast career has been similarly amazing. After graduating for USC’s Annenberg School, Catherine spent the first few years of her career at KRGV-TV in Weslaco, Texas and at WSB-TV in South Bend, Indiana. She came to Phoenix in 1992 to join KPNX-TV. After six years as an anchor and reporter at KPNX, Catherine went west to join KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. After four years in L.A. as an anchor and reporter, Catherine was lured back to Phoenix in 2003 by KPHO-TV. Catherine spent the next 12 years as one of the KPHO’s evening anchors and during that time was named the “Anchor of the Year” by the Arizona Associated Press Broadcasters Association. She won several Emmy^® Awards during that time and conducted many significant interviews, including one with President Barack Obama at the White House in 2014. Catherine also co-anchored with the legendary Walter Cronkite in 2004 after a presidential debate between President George Bush and John Kerry at ASU’s Gammage Auditorium.

Since 2016, Catherine has worked at AZTV, where she is the host of “Arizona Daily Mix.” She is also the host of the weekly radio show, “The Women’s Eye,” on 1480 KPHX.

“Catherine’s professionalism brings a warm glow to any television screen,” says AZTV’s CEO Lynn Londen. “She enhances every subject she interviews, and has her own unique way of bringing out the importance of every topic she covers.”

Catherine is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the current secretary of the Arizona Latino News Media Association Board of Directors and is a graduate of the Valley’s Hispanic Leadership Institute, Class of 2004. She is also a member of the Make-A-Wish Arizona Board of Directors. In 2009, Catherine founded the Sisterhood of Super Women, a group of women from all walks of life that meets for lunch once a month to inspire and motivate each other and select charities for donations. Catherine is also the director of The Lats Legacy Foundation, which raises money for scholarships at the University of Southern California. Catherine is also an active speaker at community and charitable events. In 2017 she was inducted into the Silver Circle in our chapter.

Oh, and Catherine is also a killer a spin-cycle instructor.

Charles Allen

INDUCTED: 2000

Charles “Chuck” Allen helped launch KAET-TV (PBS-Phoenix), in 1960 and taught television production at Arizona State University. When Charles Allen started at KAET-TV Channel 8, it was a fledgling public television station that stopped broadcasting for the day once classes got out. When he retired in 2002, it was one of the most recognized PBS affiliates in the country. During the four decades in between, Allen pushed for innovative programming like “The Cousteau Odyssey” and the first globally televised open-heart surgery.

Allen went on to work as a program manager in Allentown, Pennsylvania, before becoming vice-president of programming at KCET in Los Angeles, where he worked with Jacques Cousteau and Carl Sagan, among others. However, he wanted to return to Arizona. He returned to KAET in 1980 and led the development the concept for Horizon, the station’s award-winning, nightly public affairs program. Allen had many memorable moments, including 1983’s Operation, a live open-heart surgery during which viewers could call in to the doctor.

He became general manager in 1987, and in 1991 launched The Arizona Collection, a series of programs that celebrates the history and people of the state. In 1997, Allen was named to the Hall of Fame at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and continued to serve until his retirement.

Charlie Barnes

INDUCTED: 2019

In summer of 1979, while registering for classes necessary for the completion of a master’s degree in English, Charlie found that the Theatre Department at UNM was offering a class in tap dancing. With visions of Fred Astaire gliding through her brain, she signed up for the tap class. It was a very small class, only five students at the outset, she got to know her instructor, a hoofer from Great Britain with some BBC experience, quite well. As it turned out, he was trying to start some classes in Television Production that would be in the Theatre Arts department rather than the Journalism department, and needed bodies to fill the seats for fall semester. He agreed not to interfere with Charlie’s graduate work if hers could be one of the bodies needed. She acquiesced to his proposal, and brought along a few friends during the first semester of the endeavor.

The classes were enjoyed by all. At the end of the fall semester, the hoofer had procured five unpaid internships for the spring semester: three at the PBS station managed by UNM and two at KGGM TV, the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque. At first, Charlie declined any internship based on the work she had to do in her graduate program, but when one of the people who had accepted a KGGM internship dropped out of the program, and with a renewed promise not to interfere with her graduate work, Charlie took the KGGM internship so that it would not be lost to the hoofer forever. During the term of the internship, Charlie was hired as a master control operator at KGGM, and the rest, as they say,,is history.

Charlie has two enduring reasons to remember the hoofer: shin splints and a long-lived love of all things television.

Chris Schueler

INDUCTED: 2021

Chris Schueler has created more than one hundred television programs over the past 25 years. These programs have garnered 26 Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards and some have been broadcast throughout the world.

Focusing on educational and social issues, Schueler has experience in youth programming, cultural and social documentaries and video projects, and family series television. His clients have included the United Nations, the National Institute of Mental Health, the PBS Network, the CBS Network Foundation as well as networks and government entities worldwide.

Schueler’s program topics have ranged from global warming solutions to mental health stigma as well as domestic violence, teen pregnancy prevention, AIDS, alcohol, gambling addiction and opioid abuse.

His documentaries focusing on the environment, health and social issues, and Native American challenges have not only educated the viewing audience, but also have been used by lawmakers and community leaders to inform decision making.

Schueler includes social marketing and target audience outreach for all his projects, involving extensive use of electronic and internet platforms to address issues primarily focused on teenagers and their families. In addition to including a large group of teenagers in the programs production and outreach efforts, each of these projects include organizing partnerships with nonprofit stakeholders, government entities and private businesses. These documentaries and community outreach projects include not only the airing of the programs in prime time, but also curriculum guides, Town Hall meetings, specialized educational videos, and internet components including live web cam interaction and text messaging.

The National Broadcast Association for Community Affairs named Chris Schueler national “Innovator of the Year” for his nationally syndicated, News 101 Project that trained teenagers to produce television news stories for local network affiliates. Schueler has used his model to train journalists around the world in creating social issue documentaries.

Schueler is the Executive Director of “SafeTeen New Mexico” which was named one of the six best Community Outreach Programs in the United States.

And tonight, he can add member of the prestigious NATAS Silver Circle Society in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter to that list.

Chuck Deen

Bio Coming Soon

Chuck Emmert

INDUCTED: 2001

For more than 40 years, Chuck Emmert has been on the leading edge of the digital video journalist revolution. Passionate about videography, Chuck led a talented group of video journalists in Phoenix that prided itself on fair and accurate storytelling with a flair for the creative elements, garnering more than 100 Emmy^® Awards in the process. A natural born storyteller, Emmert has been the principle videographer on overseas documentary projects including segments in hostile areas like North Korea. Chuck is credited with pioneering helicopter news coverage in one of the country’s first live airborne camera platforms with legendary pilot Jerry Foster of SKY-12 at KPNX in Phoenix. Then, in partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, he directed another great team of video story teller’s that produced a yearly thirteen-episode television series. ‘Arizona Wildlife Views’ that aired on PBS. The series chronicled the diverse native animal life in the desert southwest.

Chuck continued to implement this storytelling-driven programming philosophy at know99 Television in Phoenix, a youth and education orientated cable channel. This opportunity offered the chance to create a video journalist mentoring program, crafting an advanced videography training curriculum for gifted high school and college student video journalists. Chuck is in the classroom as well, serving as adjunct professor in videography with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication.

Now, Chuck is back to shooting and editing video content in a new era of storytelling, serving as a videographer for the nation’s fifth-largest city, Phoenix. He is the principal content creator for the city’s Instagram account, attracting more than 62,000 followers in the process.

Chuck has been involved with the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, having served as a Trustee for the organization as well as a member of the National Awards Committee.

Personally, Chuck has been married to Patty for more than 35 years, raising three children. A competitive tennis player, Chuck also enjoys bicycling, board games, food and music.

Dan Barr

INDUCTED: 2014

Dan Barr is a partner with Perkins Coie LLP in Phoenix. For the past 30 years, he has represented broadcasters and other news media organizations in Arizona and throughout the country in wide variety of matters. He is the chief counsel of the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona, a non-profit group for which Perkins Coie provides a “media hotline” to journalists on issues involving access to public records, governmental meetings, court proceedings and other issues concerning access to public information. Over the past three decades, the media hotline has responded to thousands calls from journalists throughout Arizona. Barr teaches media law at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He is listed in *The Best Lawyers in America*. He is the author of the Arizona Reporter’s Handbook on Media Law (6th edition), the Survey of Arizona Libel Law and Survey of Arizona Employment Libel Law for the Media Law Resource Center, Tapping Officials’ Secrets – The Door to Open Government in Arizona for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and is a contributing author to News Now: Visual Storytelling in the Digital Age. Barr often speaks and writes op-eds about First Amendment and public access issues, most recently arguing in the Arizona Republic for greater public access to information about the lethal injection execution of Joseph Wood just two days before the state of Arizona conducted its botched execution of Wood. In 2010, he was the first lawyer to participate in the Pulitzer Prize Winners Workshop at Hong Kong Baptist University in Hong Kong, China. In 2014, Barr traveled to Belgrade and Nis, Serbia to conduct two three-day workshops sponsored by the U.S. State Department for Serbian journalists about the U.S. legal system, media law and media coverage of the courts. Barr was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of NATAS in 2014.

Dan Davis

INDUCTED: 2002

Dan is a four-time Emmy^® winner who has spent his entire career in Arizona. He began his career at KOAI TV (later KNAZ) in Flagstaff, spent 30 years at KTVK TV and is an original member of the Good Morning Arizona Show. He left in 2009, and later began producing and hosting the AAA Highroads travel show in Phoenix and Tucson, as well as Denver, Charlotte and Raleigh. He’s done everything from breaking news to rappelling down a waterfall in Maui to cruising the Rhine through Germany and France.

Daniel Duncan

INDUCTED: 2010

Bio Coming Soon

Dave Fox

INDUCTED: 2014

Dave began his Television Broadcast career in 1984 at a small Television Station on the Western Slope of Colorado in Glenwood Springs. After 6 months in Glenwood, Dave was hired at KLAS-TV in Las Vegas and was quickly promoted to the lead Sports Anchor at the CBS Affiliate.

In September of 1987, Dave & his Wife Kathie were thrilled when he they were offered the opportunity to return to their home state as Dave was hired as the lead Sports Anchor at KUTV in Salt Lake City. Dave has held this position since. Dave is the weeknight Sports Anchor where he reports daily on the 6:00pm & 10:00pm Newscasts on KUTV. He is also host of Talkin’ Sport, a half hour Live Sports program each night following the News on sister station KMYU-TV.

Dave has won numerous awards for broadcasting excellence, but he is particularly proud of the Emmy^® Award he & the KUTV Sports team won for the “Dave Fox Sport Den,” a Sunday night Sports Program early in his career at KUTV. In 2015 he was inducted into the Silver Circle for his exemplary career and service to the industry and the market he serves.

Dave is a Utah native who graduated from Bountiful High School. He and his wife Kathie have four children, Daughters Katie Darling (Stephenson), Lauren Parks (Casey), Kelli Gendlek (Jeremy) and a son Andrew, who is currently in his 2nd year of Law School at the University of Utah. They also have 5 Grand Children! Four Grandsons…Daxton, Madden, Beckham, and Crew and one Granddaughter…Kendyl.

They love to spend time with the family, especially travelling. Daughter Kelli will finish her senior season playing Softball for Utah Valley University, so they’ll be on the road quite a bit in 2015 including 2 trips to Phoenix.

Dave Munsey

INDUCTED: 2002

Dave Munsey has worked in the radio and television industry for over 50 years. In September, 2015 he celebrated 40 of those years at Chanel 10, which is a milestone, because no other anchor has remained at one station for that long. Dave started at KOOL FM radio as the morning drive DJ, and in a short time he added KOOL TV weather and reporting. The “live at five” newscast was basically built around Dave’s live weather segment. In another short time Dave left radio and devoted all of his time to TV.

In 1980, 36 years ago this summer, after the tragic drowning death of a family friend’s two-year-old son, Dave started his water safety program, “Watch Your Kids Around Water”. The program is still going strong due to Dave’s constant reminders on the evening news and the many mornings and weekends he spends attending water safety events throughout the Valley. Because of this program, Dave’s home city of Tempe has honored him with two, “Dave Munsey Days”, and a citizen of the year award. Munsey also has a “Dave Munsey Day” in Phoenix.

Dave’s major awards during his career include a National Emmy^® for “Summer of Supervision”, a regional Emmy^® for weather storm reporting and a regional Governor’s award Emmy^® for the “Watch Your Kids Around Water” program.

Dave was born and raised in Jamestown, North Dakota in a family of nine children. In high school and college Dave worked as a radio announcer and became popular for his quick wit and storytelling. After attending college at the University of North Dakota, Dave spent two years in the Army. During Dave’s tour in Viet Nam he maneuvered his way out of an infantry unit and into a spot-on American Forces Radio and Television after being asked to interpret a Christmas Eve Mass. His performance earned him an invitation to the Bob Hope Christmas show the very next day, where he met and had his picture taken with Mr. Hope. Several years later Dave reunited with Mr. Hope at the Phoenix Open and interviewed him on “live at 5” about their first meeting in Viet Nam.

Dave is a member of the NATAS Silver Circle and the Silver Key journalistic Societies. Dave was inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2016. Dave and his wife Bunny have been married for 45 years and live in Tempe with their Golden-Doodle, dog child, Mya Merlot. Dave has written a book entitled “Munsey Business.”

Dave Nichols

Dave Nichols started his television news career in 1949 and worked for 29 years in the Valley of the Sun. He was an Anchor at CBS affiliate, KOOL-TV Channel 10 and later, KTVK TV, Channel 3, both in Phoenix. He also wrote a book, “A Nichols Worth of Ev” which chronicled the tumultuous political ride of Arizona Governor Evan Mecham’s journey into politics. Dave used to like to frequent Upton’s Diner on Thomas, when working evenings. He was in the studio when a gunman took over the set, holding fellow anchorman, Bill Close, hostage. Dave was married to Illean Faller Nichols and they had two children. He passed away in April of 1996.

David James

INDUCTED: 2019

David James was hired at KUTV in August of 1992. Over the last 27 years he has covered two NBA Finals, an NBA All-Star game and an NCAA Final Four. He traveled to Japan in 1998 and Australia in 2000 in preparation for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. David anchors KUTV weekend sports shows and helped launch the weeknight version of “Talkin’ Sports” on sister station KMYU. From 2005-2009 he hosted the Utah Jazz pregame, halftime and post- game TV shows. He has been the TV Voice of Real Salt Lake soccer on KMYU since 2015 and for 17 years has partnered with Pat Kinahan to make “DJ&PK” a morning drive radio institution on 97.5/1280TheZone, the Utah Jazz flagship radio station.

David Luna

INDUCTED: 2008

Dr. David Luna has been instrumental in creating and implementing change, especially for Mesa Hispanic residents. He’s the first Hispanic to serve on the Mesa City Council and has been recognized for his community involvement with numerous awards. Dr. Luna has also been a pioneer internally for City of Mesa employees. Mesa Hispanic Network is an internal group dedicated to attracting, developing, and retaining Latino employees through the promotion of professional excellence, leadership and cultural awareness while serving as a strategic partner in the community collaborations and the City's diversity initiative. He has been an integral part in representing the Mesa Hispanic community.

Luna spent more than 30 years working for Mesa Public Schools, including 27 years as the Director of Education Television for Mesa Public Schools, directing and managing channel 99 and edtv99.org. He retired from MPS in 2017. He also spent time as an Arizona State University and Mesa Community College adjunct professor. Councilmember Luna has dedicated nearly ten years of service to the Mesa City Council.

David Miller

INDUCTED: 2007

David is one of those guys who has done just about everything in creative media. He’s been a director, producer editor, photographer, artist, animator, designer and developer and is the recipient of more than two dozen Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmy^® Awards. During his 18 years at KTVK-TV from 1986 to 2004, David worked as an editor, 3-D animator, photographer, graphic designer, composer and producer. Among David’s award-winning work at KTVK were the iconic “Arizona’s Family” and “The Place with More Stuff” campaigns. While at KTVK, David’s collaborative work won PROMAX’s award for “The best major-market, local TV promotional spot or campaign in the world” more than a half dozen times.

Since 2004, David has been a partner at MagicDust Television, where he is responsible for much of the digital technology used every day on the nationally syndicated show, RightThisMinute. He’s also the designer of RightThisMinute.com and the RTM apps for phones, tablets and TVs.

David Ross

INDUCTED: 2009

David Ross of Tucson, was the Director of Engineering and Technical Services for Arizona Public Media for more than 30 years. He also worked at other radio and television stations, nationwide, over his career. David is married to Mary “Peggy” Ross and they had one son, Kenneth. David was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society in 2009.

Deborah Sedillo Dugan

INDUCTED: 2016

Deborah Sedillo Dugan has spent 35 years as an award-winning television journalist and communications professional in Washington, D.C. and most recently, the Rocky Mountain region.

She has written, produced and reported extensively on hundreds of community issues, such as homelessness, domestic violence, and missing children. She has also reported on major league sporting events including Super Bowl Fan Fest, NCAA College Football Playoffs, and MLB Fan Fest, to name a few. Known for her community activism, Sedillo Dugan was selected out of thousands of nominations as a “community hero” to carry the Olympic Torch in 1996 in Washington, D.C.

For the past 11 years, Sedillo Dugan has worked for the City of Phoenix, the sixth largest city in the U.S., as PHXTV’s Station Manager. PHXTV, formerly Phoenix Channel 11, the city’s cable station, has won numerous industry awards under her leadership. She first began with the City as a PHXTV freelance reporter, working her way up to PHXTV executive producer. After four years, she was promoted to station manager in 2005. Her public relations background includes stints as spokeswoman/public relations manager for Arizona Qwest Communications in Arizona and spokesperson for U S WEST in New Mexico during some of the worst wildfires the state had ever seen. In 1999, The Albuquerque Journal named her the spin goddess of public relations.

Prior to Qwest Communications, Sedillo Dugan was a spokeswoman/reporter for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in Washington, D.C. She worked on national issues such as equal pay for women and the working women vote campaign and also marketed labor documentaries for PBS.

Sedillo Dugan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish from The American University in Washington, D.C. She also attended La Javeriana in Bogota Colombia. Her professional career began in our nation’s capital, starting as a news assistant for WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in D.C. From there, her career took off and she worked as an On-Camera Host for WETA-TV, the PBS station in Washington, D.C. and as Community Affairs Director for WTTG-TV, Fox Television. In addition, Sedillo Dugan hosted a series of television weekly programs for the U.S. Catholic Conference, worked on a presidential campaign as a media coordinator; and reported for a nationally syndicated Hispanic television show.

Her awards include a 2012-13 Rocky Mountain Emmy^® for “Online with Mayor Greg Stanton” and a 1986 NATAS Washington D.C. Emmy^® nomination for her work on missing children. For this same topic on missing children, she also received the 1986 Media Award of Excellence. In D.C., she served as a Board of Governor for their NATAS Chapter and chaired a national town hall meeting on media literacy. She has won many Telly Awards for her exceptional writing, reporting and hosting at PHXTV.

Beyond her professional career, Sedillo Dugan has dedicated herself to issues close to home such as lupus: her husband lives with Systematic Lupus Erythematosus and so, she served on the Lupus Foundation of Greater Washington, creating a public awareness campaign about this chronic illness. For numerous years, she committed her time to co-hosting the local PBS KAET Pledge Drive in Phoenix.

She is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and has served for several years on the Hispanic Women’s Conference executive team. Currently she serves as a board member for the Arizona Latino Media Association (ALMA) and has mentored countless college students pursuing journalism careers at nearby ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She is proud of her two adult daughters, Christina a staff writer/reporter for People Magazine and Lauren, a student in health and wellness. Finally, she has been married for 31 years to her college sweetheart Doug Dugan, a former professional soccer player.

Delbert Lewis

Delbert & Jewell Lewis met in Florence, Arizona when Del was eleven years old and Jewell McFarland was seven years old. The Lewis family later moved to Phoenix. In 1940, Jewell’s father, Ernest McFarland, who was an Arizona Superior Court Judge and a cotton farmer, was elected to the U.S. Senate. In 1944, Del joined the Navy and was sent to the Pacific during World War II.

Upon his return to Arizona, Del and Jewell met again just prior to enrolling at the University of Arizona. They dated through college and were married, in 1951, Afterwards, Del worked as a civil engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers in Virginia.

Del & Jewell were soon given the opportunity to move back to Arizona and assume responsibility for the McFarland family cotton farm in Florence. Del managed the farm operations and Jewell taught. In 1952, when Senator McFarland was defeated by Barry Goldwater, he returned to Arizona and, with a desire to continue to serve the community, was elected Governor of Arizona in 1954. Meanwhile, Ernest McFarland saw an opportunity to pioneer a new business – television stations. In 1955, with a group of three friends, Del and Jewell received the permit for Arizona Television Company, KTVK-TV.

The Lewis’s became partners in the company and, many years later, took over the station management with Del Lewis as president, CEO & general manager and Jewell Lewis as chairman of the board. The early years were lean but, with family spirit, persistence, and hard work, Channel 3 and ABC finally shot to the top of network ratings in 1976. It therefore came as a shock in 1995 when ABC was forced to pull the network from Channel 3 due to a series of acquisition repercussions.

Despite this obstacle, the Lewis family remained steadfast and rebuilt as an independent station. KTVK 3-TV became one of the top independent television stations in the country. Over the years, their media empire acquired KESZ-FM radio, KOAZ-FM radio, Desert Video Production Center, Phoenix magazine and a local marketing agreement with KSAW Channel 61.

The Lewis’s generously contributed time as well as funding to a number of local organizations. The Orpheum Theater restoration is one example. Del and Jewell received numerous honors from the community, many bestowed upon them as a couple.

Dennis Dilworth

INDUCTED: 2016

Dennis worked at KTVK-TV3 in Phoenix, Arizona. He filled roles as a Director and News Director. He is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society and served as president of the chapter in 1999.

Dennis O'Neill

INDUCTED: 2002

An Emmy^® and Peabody award-winning producer and news manager, Dennis O’Neill is currently the executive producer of RightThisMinute. He manages a staff that produces 624 original half-hour episodes a year—more than any show in national television syndication. At MagicDust, Dennis has created an innovative model to shorten production times, improve productivity and redefine the making of an unscripted daily show.

Dennis began his career in local news at KOOL-TV, later KSAZ-TV, where he produced newscasts, investigative series, documentaries and special projects, including a groundbreaking series of satellite remote newscasts, Celebrate Arizona. In 1986, Dennis moved to KTVK-TV, where, as assistant news director over the next 18 years, he helped to build the then-fourth-rated news broadcast in Phoenix into the most-watched news organization in Arizona.

Dennis helped create MagicDust’s first series, NASCAR Angels, and also served as the that show’s executive producer.

Dick Knipfing

INDUCTED: 1990

Dick Knipfing came to Albuquerque in the early 1960s as a University of New Mexico student. Since then he reported on hundreds of events which changed the direction of Albuquerque and state history. He has seen incredible changes in technology, the style of network news, and the methods by which news is collected.

His broadcasting career spanned 51 years, all in New Mexico. He retired as a senior anchor at KRQE News 13, in 2014. While there, Knipfing also served as a reporter and news director. He worked at all three major Albuquerque television stations during his career, including KOB-TV Channel 4, and KOAT-TV Channel 7. His return to KRQE brought him full circle. His TV news career began at the same station in 1963 when he was hired as a reporter-photographer (then called KGGM-TV).

Knipfing has received numerous awards for his writing and reporting abilities. In October 2013, he was inducted into the prestigious Gold Circle Society of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest chapter.

Dick is married to Charlene Armijo of Albuquerque. They have two children, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Dick Nourse

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Don Burgess

INDUCTED: 1998

Don Burgess retired in July 1998 after fourteen years at KUAT-TV, the last eight years as General manager of KUAT Radio and Television, now Arizona Public Media at the University of Arizona. Don graduated with a B.A. from the University of Nebraska and received a M.S. degree in Radio and Television from Syracuse University. Don’s first job in 1961 was a cameraman for commercial station WJRT in Flint, Michigan. Later that year he moved to the Auburn Studios of the Alabama ETV as Producer Director and then Production Manager. In 1964 he became Program Manager at KAET-TV at Arizona State University and Assistant Professor of Mass Communications. While at KAET Don served as Vice President, Phoenix Chapter National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He worked for the WMVS-WMVT, Public TV stations in Milwaukee, WHYY in Philadelphia, and seven months as part of the transition team at NPR and in 1984 returned to Arizona in Tucson as KUAT Assistant General Manager and Director of Programming and Production. He was also Executive Producer for many of KUAT’s special program and series including “Halley’s Comet,” “Geronimo: The Final Campaign,” and several Rocky Mountain Emmy^® Awards including “The Desert by Design” and “The Desert Speaks-The Colorado River.” Don brought “The Desert Speaks” to KUAT. Over the years Don served on a number of Public Broadcasting committees and boards.

He was inducted into the Silver Circle in the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter in 1998.

Don Hopfer

INDUCTED: 2005

DECEASED

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Don Hopfer graduated from Notre Dame University and then moved to Tempe, Arizona to be his family and the Chicago Cubs during spring training. It was there that he met his wife, Devi, who he called “The Goddess.”

Don became a KAET-TV volunteer in 1975 and then a full-time employee in 1977. He spent over 25 years at KAET producing programs, mentoring ASU students and creating cutting edge television. Don’s numerous credits included the first globally-televised, live open-heart surgery program, live coverage of Arizona Governor Evan Mecham’s impeachment proceedings and news pool coverage of the Pope’s visit to Sun Devil Stadium.

His passion for photography led him to produce the acclaimed “Barry Goldwater: Photographs and Memories,” recognized with a Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmy^® Award for his direction. His production of “Thieves of Time” was honored with and International Film and Television Award and a CINE Golden Eagle Award.

Don influenced every KAET production as an executive producer, director or coach — always willing to share his experience and extend his hand to help anyone at anytime.

Donald Godfrey

INDUCTED: 2007

Donald G. Godfrey is a longtime broadcaster, educator and historian who has worked in commercial radio and television and corporate communications. During his professional career, he served as reporter, anchor, program director and producer at various television and radio stations, including KIRO-TV, Seattle; KSVN-AM and KOET-TV, Ogden, Utah; and KEZI-TV, Eugene, Ore.

In addition, for more than 20 years he supervised student newsmagazine programs that aired on KCTS-PBS, Seattle; KUAT-PBS, Tucson, Ariz.; KSDL-TV, St. George, Utah; and KAET-PBS and Cox Cable, Phoenix.

A prolific author, Godfrey has written and edited numerous books on the history of broadcasting in the U.S., including “Methods of Historical Analysis in Electronic Media,” “Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television” and “Historical Dictionary of American Radio.” He currently is conducting research for a biography of American inventor C. Francis Jenkins, the first American to produce a television picture. His work also has been published in scholarly peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journalism Quarterly and Journalism History.

Godfrey is a past president of the Broadcast Education Association and founding chair of the BEA Festival of Media Arts as well as the BEA Symposium and the BEA Research Committee. He was the recipient of the association’s Distinguished Education Service Award and the Festival of Media Arts Founder’s award.

He is a member of the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Society, which honors those who have at least 25 years of service to the television industry and have made meaningful and significant contributions to the field.

Donna Rossi

INDUCTED: 2015

Donna Rossi is a reporter’s reporter. After spending four years as a Phoenix police officer, she decided to change careers and become a journalist in 1987. After attending ASU and working as an intern at KOOL-TV in Phoenix, she moved to Flagstaff in 1989 where she became the assignment editor, reporter and news anchor for KNAZ-TV NBC 2. While working full-time at KNAZ, Rossi also graduated cum laude from Northern Arizona University with a degree in broadcast journalism. In 1992, Rossi moved to Tucson, where she worked as the weekend anchor and weekday reporter for KOLD-TV CBS 13, for two years.

Rossi joined KPHO-TV CBS 5 in 1994, and covered many of the highest profile stories in the state. She covered the 1999 sleepwalking murder trial of Scott Falater, the 2004 trial of Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas O’Brien for a fatal hit and run accident and the two Jodi Arias murder trials. She also spent two straight weeks in northeastern Arizona during the summer of 2011 covering the Wallow Fire, the largest wildfire in Arizona history. She was also instrumental in bringing to the forefront the issue of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in law enforcement with a series of first-hand accounts from officers who trusted her to tell their stories. That series was helpful in getting a new state law on the books to better protect law officers with PTSD.

A past president of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter, Rossi is a member of IFP/Phoenix, a non-profit organization of local film and documentary makers. She has won more than a dozen Arizona Associated Press awards and earned five Rocky Mountain Emmy^® Awards. In 2015, Rossi was inducted into the Silver Circle.

After 29-years in broadcast journalism she retired in February 2018. Later that year, she was inducted into the Arizona Broadcaster’s Association Hall of Fame. Rossi currently works as Director of Communications for Phoenix Police Department. She is also an adjunct faculty member of ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

Before becoming a police officer, Rossi was an employee of Eastern Onion singing telegram service. One evening in January 1980, a customer asked that a “Gorilla-gram” be sent to someone attending a Phoenix Suns game at the Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum. She was not working that night, so her co-worker, Henry Rojas, went instead. Rojas’ appearance at the game, especially when he danced to music during a timeout, caused quite a sensation. Rojas was invited back to subsequent Suns’ games and eventually became “The Gorilla.” We will never know what would have happened had Donna Rossi been working at Eastern Onion that night in January 1980, but her broadcast colleagues and TV news viewers throughout Arizona are grateful for her career path.

Dr. Barry Ramo

INDUCTED: 2017

Dr. Ramo delivers medical breakthroughs and miracles in Albuquerque on KOAT Action 7 News – everything from the latest treatments for diabetes to the best ways to lose weight.

In addition to his Action 7 News duties, Ramo is a staff cardiologist for the New Mexico Heart Institute, and holds medical professorships at the University of New Mexico and Duke University. He earned degrees from the University of Colorado, the University of Chicago, and Duke University.

He also founded Project Heartstart, a Memorial Day effort to teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation to Albuquerque-area residents.

An Albuquerque resident since 1972, he devotes much of his spare time to the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra as a member of its board. He is also a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences – Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society. Dr. Ramo is married, with two adult children.

Dr. Dale Hoskins

INDUCTED: 2013

DECEASED

Dale was a Professor Emeritus for Creative Media & Film at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. He received his BA in1969 from Baylor University, his MFA in 1974 from Texas Christian University and his PhD in 1984 from North Texas State University.

In 2013, Hoskins was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Emmy^®'s Silver Circle Society, which recognizes those who have dedicated at least 25 years in the broadcast industry, while making significant professional contributions and making a difference in the community. The Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, serves Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and El Centro, Calif.

Dale was also a recipient of the Jack Clifford Excellence in Broadcast Education Award from the Arizona Broadcasters Association Foundation.

Dr. W. Dale Hoskins passed away February 22, 2021, after a short battle with cancer.

Dr. John Craft

Dr. John Craft has been a friend to NATAS and to this chapter for nearly 30 years. John has served as president, committee chairs, member of the board, and two terms as a national trustee of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences where he represented us on trips to study the television systems in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and China.

An undisputed expert in his field, John is often called on to comment on issues concerning the media for radio and television stations, as well as newspapers, throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada, China and Mexico.

John has taught at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications since 1973 (making him the senior member of the Cronkite faculty). During that time he has taught courses ranging from broadcast production, to media sales and telecommunication management. Thousands of students have learned from Dr. Craft at the graduate and undergraduate level. and for more than a dozen years he served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Cronkite School

Prior to arriving at ASU, Craft taught media courses at Ohio University and at the Hancock County branch of West Liberty State College in West Virginia. As Director of Educational Television Services for the Hancock County Schools in West Virginia, he developed one of the first public school instructional televisions systems in the nation. At Ohio University he served as Director of Instructional Television and worked at WOUB-TV in many creative and administrative capacities. In addition, he has worked as a media consultant in establishing video facilities in schools, cable television systems, hospitals, and for major manufacturing corporations.

John is the lead author of a major textbook on American electronic media and a major contributor to a second textbook on corporate video as well as the author of many academic articles. He is also an independent documentary television producer and director. His award-winning documentary programs on Route 66 have been broadcast on public television stations in nearly 80 of the top markets and on The History Channel – as well as abroad.

John began his broadcasting career in 1962 at WOUB-TV as a video quality engineer and camera operator. Since then, he has inspired, encouraged and instructed hopeful students and professionals alike – leaving his unique mark on our business. In 2012 The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter inducted Dr. John Craft into the prestigious Gold Circle Society for serving the television industry and the community with distinction for more than 50 years.

Edward Ayala

INDUCTED: 2022

Edward Ayala grew up in a small farming community in the Arizona/Sonora Mexico border. The son of migrant farm workers, Edward learned to till the land and irrigate crops at the age of 10. When his parents became United States Citizens they opened an auto repair shop which would change Edward’s world and career path. At 12, Edward met a photographer from a local television station at that repair shop. What started as a hello ended up with him holding a TV camera on his shoulder and seeing a whole new world through the viewfinder of that camera. This was the beginning of Edward’s storytelling career.

Edward started his career in television at the age of 15 at KYMA in Yuma, Arizona as a part-time production tape operator. He went on to become a Technical Director and Director of the evening newscasts. At age 18 he was promoted to Production Manager leading the Production and Creative Services staff. At the age of 20 Edward moved to Tucson, AZ, working as a Photojournalist at KOLD and Chief Photographer at KGUN. He was recruited to the Phoenix market by KNXV as a Photojournalist then promoted to investigative and special projects. He is currently an Investigative Producer/Photojournalist at KPHO/KTVK.

Edward is a recipient of several Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy® Awards. As well as multiple Edward R. Murrow awards, and an Alfred I DuPont award.

In 2016 Edward joined the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University where he is a highly regarded adjunct professor teaching videography and editing. He has taught and mentored hundreds of students who are now working Journalists in newsrooms across the country, including Phoenix.

Felipe Corral

INDUCTED: 2020

Known as “El Señor de Los Deportes,” Felipe Corral has been a fixture at Univision Arizona for almost 27 years. During that time, he has covered many of the major sporting events in Arizona and Mexico, including the Super Bowl, the NBA Playoffs, and the World Series. “I strongly believe what makes Felipe Corral, ‘El Señor de Los Deportes’ so well known and loved amongst his viewers, is that he is a simple, kind, generous and humble human being,” says long-time coworker Gina Santiago. “He travels all over the state covering children playing sports, interviewing not only the players, but their coaches and parents.”

But it is Corral’s work covering young athletes that sets him apart. “Felipe is a true believer that through his microphone he can support and motivate young athletes to keep fighting for their dreams,” says Univision Arizona anchor Heidi Renpenning. “He has used his microphone to motivate hundreds of young athletes. More than 20 years ago, he created the segment called ‘Promesas del Futuro,’ or ‘Future Promises,’ where he interviews young athletes and then follows them through their careers and some of them have made it all the way to the NFL, NBA, the Olympics and other national and international championships.”

One of those young athletes featured on “Promesas del Futuro” is now nationally ranked Taekwondo fighter Jenny Quezada, who was then a freshman at Arizona State and is currently training to be a part of the 2021 U.S Olympic Team. Former Arizona Cardinals player Rolando Cantú, who is now the Cardinals’ manager of International Business Relations, remembers meeting Corral at training camp with the Cardinals in June 2004. “Felipe is a pioneer for Arizona Spanish broadcast television. While playing for the Arizona Cardinals as a professional player, I began to see opportunities in broadcast communication, watching people like Felipe for when it came time to retire from the NFL in hopes these doors would be open for me.”

“Who doesn’t know Felipe Corral?’ asks Univision anchor Leon Felipe Gonzalez, rhetorically. “Going out with him on the street, he takes the time to greet everyone who recognizes him and asks for a photo or an autograph. He pays the same attention to both a janitor and the owner of an important Arizona sports team.

Fran Sherlock

INDUCTED: 2006

There would be plenty of backslapping, handshaking and bear hugging if Fran Sherlock walked into a local commercial television station and many public stations across the nation. These stations all have staff members who started with Arizona Public Media /KUAT and worked with Sherlock.

His work on campus began in 1968, when he took a summer job wiring the first color-television transmitter for KUAT on Mount Bigelow. A native Tucsonan, Sherlock was just out of the U.S. Navy, where he specialized in electronics. The station had just moved into the Modern Languages Building and was using a transmitter behind Herring Hall.

The equipment was big and bulky, and Sherlock’s understanding of electronics helped him land a student job at the station. After receiving his degree from the UA in 1972 in speech communications. there was no Radio-TV major at the time. He continued along a path that in nearly 42 years has taken him through almost every production position at KUAT, working with hundreds of students.

Sherlock directed coverage of football games, City Council meetings and a variety of public affairs shows. He was executive director for 16 years of the award-winning “The Desert Speaks,” which presents stories of the people, plants, animals, geology and archaeology of the Americas’ arid regions. He’s been on the air, too.

An Emmy^® Award, for “The Desert Speaks,” he acknowledges humbly, is tucked on a bookcase shelf in an office strewn with books, papers and electronic gizmos, including a 10,000-watt incandescent light bulb.

He’s eager to talk about the students who have passed through the studios and to show off his favorite mementos: several framed mounting boards crowded with overlapping, fading and color-shifted snapshots of his proteges. He can point out students and tell you their names and where they are today.

“I was able to build successful teams,” said Sherlock, who found great satisfaction when others received awards and landed jobs. “I enjoy seeing a student or a producer really blossom.”

“I respect artistic skills,” he said. He considered the people he worked with, such as editors and photographers, as artists. When ideas and products were discussed and critiqued, Sherlock encouraged viewing the work as art.

He likes to tell people stories and said he appreciates the experiences with “The Desert Speaks,” such as visiting the Galapagos Islands and Argentina, which allowed him the privilege of seeing how others manage to live in deserts.

As director of production services, Sherlock had the overarching responsibility for television production for Arizona Public Media’s five broadcast streams, including online. That’s meant he was on call 24/7 and could easily get a 3 a.m. heads-up that CNN needed to get into the studio by 6 a.m.

Tools and technology have seen the most change in Sherlock’s four decades in broadcasting.

“Tools are smaller, easier to use and cheaper,” Sherlock said. At one point, only a television station could afford a videotape editor; now there’s one on almost every laptop.

While the once-expensive tools are accessible and easy to use, “the challenge is to have skills to create a product that is art.”

Sherlock and his wife of 40 years are family-oriented and active in social service programs such as Habitat for Humanity, Casa Maria, and the youth group at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, where Sherlock is a deacon.

“I enjoy helping people communicate their stories,” Sherlock said, “and whatever I can do to help.”

Fran retired as the “grandfather” of KUAT in 2013. He is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society.

Frank Camacho

INDUCTED: 2007

Frank Camacho spent 32 years as an Arizona broadcaster, both in radio and television. During that time Frank developed a reputation as a fair, solid reporter who cared deeply about his community and the people who allowed him to tell their story.

Over the years Frank’s assignments were as diverse as the population of the Greater Phoenix Area. As a young radio reporter at KTAR, he covered the hundred year floods which hit the valley twice in the late 1970’s.

After spending two years at the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, Camacho returned to broadcasting, this time in television. He spent a combined 30 years as a reporter and anchor at KPHO-TV and then KTVK-TV in Phoenix. Among the major stories he covered were the Papal visit to Phoenix in 1987, the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, the Arizona Diamondbacks victory in the 2001 World Series and the visits of six Presidents of the United States to Arizona.

Frank also did extensive work examining the rise of street gangs in the Valley of the Sun. Among the most contentious issues he covered was that of undocumented immigrants.

Along the way, Frank was honored by a number of organizations for his contributions to the community. Among the awards he is most proud are the Golden Rule award from the Arizona Interfaith.Movement and official recognition as one of the century’s major Hispanic figures in Arizona by Governor Jane Dee Hull in 2000.

Camacho is one the rare breed of broadcasters who spent his entire career reporting in his home town.

Frank Peddie

A. Frank Peddie was a long time, weather anchor for KTAR-TV Channel 12 (Now NBC Affiliate KPNX-TV12). He married Martha Jean Peddie on September 1, 1942. His wife “Marti” also worked in radio and television. In 1959 their family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona.

Frank and Martha had three sons, many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Frank passed away in March of 1994.

Fredric Leigh

INDUCTED: 2002

Frederic (“Fritz”) Leigh Professor Emeritus, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Arizona State University.

While at the Cronkite School, he taught a variety of broadcasting courses and held several administrative positions. He retired from his position as Associate Dean for Student Affairs/Recruitment and Retention in 2010.

During his professional career, he put two radio stations on the air. He served as program director and general manager for KVNO Fine Arts Radio at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. At Arizona State, he initiated and advised KASC, the campus radio station. He has extensive experience as an on-air announcer and program host.

While at ASU, he co-authored two books, Electronic Media with John Craft and Don Godfrey and Historical Dictionary of American Radio with Don Godfrey. He also published a number of book chapters and professional articles.

He is a past member of BEA, the Broadcast Education Association.

During his retirement, Fritz and Helen, his wife of 49 years, have enjoyed spending time with their two children and four grandchildren. He continues to pursue his passion for music and still plays and records with his rock band, The Torres.

The group played throughout the midwest in the 1960s and 70s and was inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

Gary Schafer

INDUCTED: 2005

Gary Schafer attended Arizona State University and was a longtime producer at the Arizona Game and Fish Department. He helped the department conserve and protect Arizona’s 800+ species of wildlife. Schafer retired from the department in 2012 and continues to freelance. Gary is a five-time National Academy of Television Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Emmy^® recipient as a producer, writer, videographer and lighting director and a member of their Silver Circle Society.

Gary Stafford

INDUCTED: 2006

Gary Stafford is currently the creative force behind Midnight Sun Films. He spent many years as a news photographer, most of that at KPNX-TV in Phoenix. The last several years at KPNX, he served as chief photographer and part of the news management team. Gary was, and still is known for his attention to detail, especially with the lighting of a scene or shot.

His career transcended film (even running a film processor at the beginning of his career) through the 3/4 inch tape era and those heavy TK-76 cameras and recorders. He continues to excel with whatever format comes down the pike, including M-II. Even though most of his work is commercial production these days, his news "genes" still show up. In 2005 he went to the Gulf Coast to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as part of a documentary. He occasionally still shoots for news organizations.

Gary's career is an example of what a photographer/producer should be, a dedicated professional who has spent his career telling great stories and teaching others how to do the same.

Gary Wenzlaff

Bio Coming Soon

George Allen

INDUCTED: 2007

DECEASED

George Allen was an innovator in sports broadcasting. From 1977 -1981 Allen was a radio host and reporter for KTAR-AM. He was the first host of the 620 Sportsline, the first local radio program that pioneered the genre of sports talk radio in the southwestern United States; a show that lives on today.

From 1981-2000 he served as the Program Director and play-by-play announcer for Dimension Cable/Cox Communications. He founded Arizona Sports Programming Network, the first local sports television network in Arizona. He broadcast the first high school football “Game of the Week”, establishing local high school gridiron action as a staple today in many sports program lineups. George was often heard during the 80’s filling in for Al McCoy calling the Phoenix Suns games. But whether it was a Suns game or high school action, George treated every broadcast the same – important to those who would watch it.

George Kay

INDUCTED: 1997

DECEASED

George graduated from Dickinson Central High School in North Dakota and joined the Navy. In 1955 he started at the American Institute of the Air, an broadcast journalism school in Minneapolis. In 1956 he got his first production job at WIGM Radio in Medford, Wisconsin. In 1957 he moved to KRFO Radio in Owatonna, Minnesota, but moved back the same year to Dickinson and KDIX Radio & Television. In 1966 he made the move to Casper and started at KTWO, where he remained for the next 38 years. He initially served as a reporter and anchor, then started do sports. In 1972 he became new director. In 1980 he moved over to Sports as an anchor.

In 1993 he was given the Distinguished Service Award by the S=Wyoming Coaches Hall of Fame. In 1997 he was inducted in the NATAS Silver Circle Society. He retired from broadcasting in 2004.

George met his wife Marge when they were both working at KDIX, where George was a DJ and weatherman. Marge and George married on January 4, 1958 in Trotters, North Dakota and to this marriage two children, Lynne and Mark, were born. George’s career led the family to Casper where he took a position at KTWO TV & Radio in 1966. While George is the face everyone remembers, Marge was the driving force behind his success. She was very proud of him and his accomplishments and never missed a single broadcast. Marge Kronschnabel, 82, a long-time resident of the Casper, Wyoming area, died, January 22, 2020 at her home. George died February 23, 2022.

George Wallace

INDUCTED: 2004

DECEASED

George Wallace was born on September 25, 1925 in Long Beach, California to Thomas Jay Wallace and Angela M. Phillips Wallace. He graduated from New Trier High School, Winnetka, Illinois in 1943. He attended the University of South Carolina in the U.S. Navy College Program and received his Navy Commission at the Notre Dame University Midshipman School as Ensign, USNR in 1945. He completed an overseas assignment as Executive Officer on a District Minesweeper in the South Pacific. His passion for athletics and his talent for the game of basketball earned him an athletic scholarship to the University of Idaho, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1949.

He met his wife, Lois Tiller, while attending the University of Idaho. They married on December 21, 1947. In 1952, he moved his family to Tucson to join KTKT Radio as an early morning DJ and radio time salesman. The position sparked a successful and fulfilling 33-year career in radio and television broadcasting, during which he served as station manager for KTKT and KCUB Radio. In 1962, he joined KGUN TV as local sales manager, and later became General Manager. His leadership afforded him the opportunity to serve on the National ABC Affiliate Board for a number of years. From 1978-1983, he was responsible for fundraising to support the University of Arizona athletic programs. Prior to his retirement in 1990, he served as Sales Manager at KAIR/KJOY Radio and a national sales consultant for KIIM/KCUB Radio.

His significant contributions to the broadcast industry were recognized by the Tucson Ad Club where he received the Silver Medal Award in 1987. In 2003, he was honored by the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as a member of the Silver Circle Society. During his career, he served as President of the Tucson Ad Club, the Tucson YMCA, and the Tucson Conquistadores. George passed away peacefully at the age of 80 in 2006, after a brief battle with brain cancer.

Gilbert Parra

INDUCTED: 2022

A long time ago Gilbert “Gibby” Parra’s mother told him 'If you love what you do, then you'll never work a day in your life.' and after 34 years in broadcasting, Gibby still doesn’t feel like it’s work. Not that he hasn’t been busy.

From his first job, at the age of 17, at a Yuma television station, to over 25 years at KTVK in Phoenix, he has continued to be an asset to the television community. Gibby has shot and edited stories across Arizona, then above it, establishing himself as the go-to helicopter photographer. Then one day, after years behind the camera, he had the opportunity to move in front of it, and the truth be told, he was just a born storyteller.

Gibby is a serious reporter who can quickly turn a live report on a difficult situation with integrity and professionalism, but he is also a reporter who can take a human interest story and brighten the day for all who are watching. In fact he is at his best when he has the opportunity to interact with people in the story. His ability to elicit an emotional reaction from the person he is interviewing and translate that emotional feeling to the viewer is a unique connection not many journalists have been able to achieve.

John Warren wrote, “As an assignment editor at TV3 I had the opportunity to watch Gibby work daily and was impressed from the beginning with his work ethic and desire to experience all aspects of television news. As a photojournalist and video editor Gibby had a knack for storytelling and has always tried to push himself to do more.”

Now, as Good Morning Arizona’s Chief Photographer, Gibby supervises about 10 news photographers every morning, while still working in the field every day, on both sides of the camera. As technology has evolved over the years, so has Gibby’s knowledge, whether it’s cameras, editing, flying drones or new computer skills he loves being the first to master the latest thing, and then sharing it with his colleagues.

On the street, Gibby is recognized by many people in the community and has been an excellent ambassador for the television industry throughout his career. Even with his busy schedule, Gibby has never forgotten his roots, hometown or the people who helped him along the way. Every year he brings journalism students from his high school in Yuma to tour the AZfamily studios and encourages them to work hard and become the best version of themselves. He is the first to volunteer to speak at schools and every week he produces his church’s Sunday service so it can be viewed on TV and has done so for over a dozen years. Gibby also enjoys family time with his wife, Davina, their children and grandchildren.

While Gibby is truly living his dream job, the NATAS Silver Circle might have been beyond those dreams when he started out in Yuma all those years ago, so he is humbled and honored to be included in the 2022 class of Silver Circle inductees.

Gilbert Zermeño

INDUCTED: 2008

Gilbert Zermeño is the youngest of five children, the son of migrant farm workers, who finally settled down in the plains of West Texas. He grew up a farmer, rising before the sun to move sprinkler systems after they watered cotton all night. He would finish up his homework and ride the bus 17 miles to school. His dad became a United States citizen when he was in his 80’s, and his Mom in her 70’s.

When he was in the sixth grade, he attended a Career Day event at Lorenzo Elementary School in Texas. The main anchor from the ABC station in nearby Lubbock spoke to his class. He spoke highly of the work photojournalists did for his station. Gilbert was hooked! After graduation, he attended West Texas State University, served an internship at KFDA in Amarillo, Texas, then moved over to KAMR-TV. Thanks to a new station accountant, he was fired from that station. It was the best thing that ever happened to him. With the help of Phoenix radio & TV personality, Bill Austin, he ended up in Phoenix. Bill was a friend of Gilbert’s main anchor and made a few calls on his behalf. He landed a phone interview with then KTSP-TV, now FOX10. They hired him and he loaded up his car with a TV, some clothes and moved to Arizona in 1986. Since his arrival, he has covered stories like Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, former Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham when he traveled to Central America, the Los Angeles Riots, and traveled the Arizona backroads with fellow Silver Circle Society member, Bill Leverton. Gilbert was also assigned to the helicopter and flew all over the state.

In 1994, a big market shake-up landed the CBS affiliation at KPHO TV-5. Zermeño was hired as a general assignment photographer. One year later, KPHO News started up an Investigative Unit and he became a producer/photographer for the unit. Over the years they have received several regional Emmy^® Awards and an Edward R. Murrow Award. Gilbert is also a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Silver Circle Society.

Gilbert was named Best TV Journalist by New Timesin 2012. Along with the accolade, they wrote: “The true stars of the TV news biz often are those whose faces we rarely see on-screen — the camera people, editors, and, yes, folks who produce what passes locally for “investigative” journalism. Our winner, who universally is known in media circles as “Z,” is outstanding at what he does, which is to identify, organize, and execute some pretty in-depth yarns for local public consumption. He has been over at Channel 5 for well more than a decade, which in that line of work equates to about a century. Zermeño knows this Valley and this state like few other journalists, and is as comfortable working with “talent” (on-camera reporters, especially the usually excellent Morgan Loew) in a desert outpost on the border as he is on Phoenix’s often-mean streets. Z’s stories stand tall in a TV market not known for producing many riveting exposés, and for this we applaud him.”

Gina Santiago

INDUCTED: 2019

When Gina Santiago first walked into the offices of KTVW-TV on December 4, 1989, she had no idea that 29 years later she would be regarded as a “pionera” of Univision Arizona.

Her introduction to Univision came as she was coordinating paid interns from a magnet program for the performing arts at South Mountain High School to run camera for a daily two-hour live morning show. She was teacher’s assistant in the SMHS TV department. In February 1991, Univision asked Gina to stay on full-time as a floor manager and production assistant for Teleradio, a weekday morning show featuring then-KTVW anchor and general manager Jose Ronstadt. Since that time, Gina has been involved in almost every aspect of putting content on the air at KTVW. She has held a variety of positions ranging from floor director, producer of the 10 p.m. and weekend newscasts, producer and editor for news series, and director for a variety of shows, including live programs TeleDia, Noticias Univision AZ and Agenda Deportiva.

Gina has produced interviews of big-name Latin artists such as Celia Cruz, Jose Jose, Alejandro Fernandez, Veronica Castro and Larry Hernandez to name a few. She has produced in-depth reports on underground cockfighting, thoroughbred horse racing and psychic phenomena. She has traveled to Sinaloa, Mexico as part of a special series on the Narco Tumbas. She also participated in a report with a Mexican historian and owner of the drug traffickers’ chapel that holds the “patron saint” of Mexican drug cartels, ‘Jesus Malverde.’ Gina’s awards include a Telly and several Rocky Mountain Emmy^® Awards for editing and producing.

Nowadays, Gina spends a majority of her time at Univision Arizona as the lead in developing creative concepts for clients, coordinate production, writing and directing commercials and branding and marketing the station.

“When one seeks counsel from Gina, time stops,” says Univision Arizona anchor Heidi Renpenning. “She will attentively listen and meticulously analyze whatever you are asking her about. She is well respected and well loved by all those who know her.”

Gina is one of the two Chapter leads for Univision’s Women’s Leadership Chapter (WLC) in Arizona. She assists the WLC mission to drive growth and innovation of Univision through recruitment, development and retention of diverse leaders, by holding monthly gatherings and inviting outside guests for all members to learn and grow from.

In addition to her work at Univision Arizona, Gina was an in-show graphics operator from 1994 to 2002 for the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, Arizona Coyotes and Arizona Rattlers.

In her free time, Gina gives history art classes to a local elementary school, volunteers at Ballet Arizona and has served on the governing board of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of NATAS since 2014.

Guy Atchley

INDUCTED: 2009

Guy Atchley served nearly three decades as anchor of KGUN 9 News in Tucson. As you may know, Guy enjoys photography, and he is going to share pictures and stories from his series: “Guy Atchley’s Arizona.”

Since he graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio/Television Speech, Guy has received more than 20 awards for excellence in reporting. During Guy’s tenure, the Associated Press has honored KGUN 9 News with the award for Best Newscast in Southern Arizona seven times. In 1992, Guy swept the Arizona AP awards by winning three first-place honors including: Best Serious Feature, Best Light Feature, and Best General Reporting in the State. Guy also was honored for his reports on living conditions in China in the documentary “China: 1987”. And in October of 1993, Guy traveled to the Middle East for a documentary on Israel’s quest for peace. That documentary, plus Guy’s news reports and speeches to expose intolerance and bigotry, earned him the 1994 Human Relations Award presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Besides reporting from several foreign countries, Guy also has traveled the United States. He has covered space shuttle launches in Florida, racial tension in the South, and immigration policies at the U.S./Mexico border. On Veterans Day in 1994, Guy reported from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He later returned to Washington to cover the Monica Lewinsky scandal. For more than two decades, Guy has spent each Labor Day as Tucson host for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. Guy counted the comedian as a good friend and mentor. Lewis wrote, “Guy Atchley’s ‘good news’ stories reflect the devotion to his community and to the human community. That makes him a great newsman and a close ally of mine.”

Guy has interviewed many famous people, but it’s the not-so-famous, the unsung heroes of America, that Guy loves to focus on. University of Arizona Basketball Coach, Lute Olson says, “I applaud Guy Atchley for focusing on what is good in our world.”

You may have seen Guy’s cameos in several movies, “Jericho Fever,” which was produced for the USA Cable Network, the remake of “Vanishing Point” for Fox TV, and the independent film “Runnin at Midnite.” And in case you’re wondering, Guy played the role of a reporter in each film. Guy Atchley retired from KGUN 9 in 2018.

Hector Gonzalez

INDUCTED: 2008

Hector Gonzalez is an Executive Producer and the Director of Online and New Media at the University of Arizona’s KUAT in Tucson. He was recognized by the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, with induction into the Silver Circle Society in 2007, for twenty-five years of service to the industry and his community.

Homer Lane

INDUCTED: 1992

Homer was born in New York City in 1923. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1941, and served in the US Army during World War II. He joined the CBS radio station in New York in 1944. In 1946, he and his family moved to Marshall, Minnesota where he began working for KMHL as Program Director. In April 1951, Homer joined KOOL Radio in Phoenix, AZ as an Account Executive. He remained with the KOOL organization until 1986. During his more than 30 years with KOOL he served as Radio Program Director, Radio Station Manager, General Manager of both radio and television, Member of the Board of Directors, Treasurer of the Corporation, Executive Vice President, and was the station’s Chief Charter Pilot. For the last ten years of service he was one of the three stockholders of KOOL with Tom Chauncey and Gene Autry. Homer wrote and delivered the Station Editorials for 25 years. After leaving from management of KOOL-TV in 1982, he continued to manage KOOL radio stations until 1986. Following his services at KOOL, Homer helped in the restructuring of television stations in Tirana, Albania, and in Kiev and Kharkov, Ukraine until his retirement in 1994. Along with his military service, Homer served in the Broadcasting Industry for 50 years. Homer was an outstanding citizen as well as a pioneering influence in the Phoenix area. He was a charter member and president of the Board of Governors of the Arizona Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences where he served several terms. Homer was one of the first members to be inducted into the Silver Circle Society of the Academy in 1992 and later went on to become a Gold Circle Society Member in 2007.

Homer also served as a member of the Inspection Team for Radio Free Europe Installations in West Germany in 1963, and was an Honorary Blue Angels Member. In 1970, with his late wife Doris, Homer served as a member of a five-person delegation in Paris to speak with the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) regarding the treatment of POW’s held by both sides during the Vietnam War. Homer was personally thanked by the late Senator John McCain for this work. Homer was an officer and/or member of over 65 community organizations including: Arizona Broadcasters Association, League of United Latin American Citizens, The Rolls Royce Club, and Sigma Delta Chi. He was also a member and past president of the Arizona 100 Rotary Club. In his lifetime Homer received approximately 125 different awards including Volunteer of the Year, Distinguished Citizen of the Year and the Abe Lincoln Award for exceptional Achievement as Broadcasters and Citizens. In addition to these awards, Homer was inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1982. He also received special citations from the following: United States of America, State of Arizona, City of Phoenix, Maricopa County, US Navy, US Army and US Air Force. In recognition of his services in Washington D.C., the late Senator Barry Goldwater presented Homer with a US flag that was flown over the US Capital Building on our nation’s bicentennial. With a passion for life and love of community service, Homer left a real mark on society far beyond the Phoenix metropolitan area. During the 1970`s he was voted as “the most recognized person in the state of Arizona” in a survey conducted by one of KOOL TV station’s competitors. Homer passed away in 2008 at the age of 85.

Howard Morgan

INDUCTED: 1990

DECEASED

Howard Morgan spent 46 years in broadcasting as a weathercaster known for his heartwarming smile and creative weather icon for sunny weather. In a time before computer-generated graphics, Morgan drew a trademark smiley face on drawings of the sun and named that character “Thermo.”

Morgan started in broadcasting as a graphic artist and began forecasting the weather for KHOL-TV in Nebraska in 1953. From there, Morgan moved to Kansas and Utah before joining KOAT-TV as a weathercaster in Albuquerque in 1971.

Morgan was also an artist and a horticulturist. Many of Morgan’s paintings were used as Christmas cards for KOAT. Morgan’s fascination with planting and gardening led to an on-air series titled “Gardenlore.” Viewers would drop off their prize vegetables at the station, and Morgan would show them on air. The television series led to Morgan authoring three books on gardening, also using the “Gardenlore” title.

In addition to his induction in the Silver Circle, Morgan was inducted into the New Mexico Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2005.

In November 1991, Morgan retired from KOAT after 46 years in broadcasting. Howard Morgan died July, 2021. He was 91.

Howard Shepherd

Howard Edward Shepherd Jr., was a television news and sports photographer for Channel 12 KPNX for over years. No one affectionately is Harry Shepherd’s work in television took him from the floor of America West Arena (Now Talking Stick Resort Arena) to the far reaches of Vietnam and the Amazon. Shepherd donated his time as a member of the Esperanca team, which brought medical aid to the poor living along the Amazon in Brazil. While there, he documented the efforts of U.S. doctors who brought hope and comfort to the disadvantaged. Shepherd covered the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Coyotes, Arizona Cardinals and spring training for the Arizona Diamondbacks, when they trained in Tucson.

Jack Clifford

INDUCTED: 2002

Jack Clifford was born on Sept. 13, 1933, in Gary, Indiana. His mother was a homemaker and his father a railroad detective. Frequently bored in school, he was voted “The Least Likely to Succeed” by his high school classmates in Grand Rapids, Mich. (In 2015, their prediction became the title of his memoir.)

While attending Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, Jack helped build the school radio station, which got him interested in broadcasting. He worked for a local radio station as an overnight disc-jockey, where his show was called “Cruising with Clifford.”

In 1957, he went on vacation to Phoenix, Arizona to visit his parents and his sister and stayed, taking a job as the first sports anchor at KTVK-TV, Channel 3. In 1962 he began working at KTAR-TV, Channel 12, also in Phoenix, in the sales department and eventually became the station’s president and general manager. In 1974, he became president of a station in Atlanta, then two years moved to Sacramento to work. In 1977, he was hired by the Providence Journal Co. to help build its broadcast and cable holdings, which eventually put him in a position to help start the Food Network.

Clifford then worked in several media markets until he moved to Rhode Island with the Providence Journal Company, as executive vice president. He worked to develop the company’s electronic media business into one of the nation’s largest broadcast & cable television, programming companies. He later founded and was chairman of both the Food Network (1993) and Northwest Cable News.

Jack retired in 1997, moving back to Arizona, with his first wife, Marguerite, where they pursued a variety of passions, including competitive ballroom dancing and thoroughbred racing. In 2006, they bought a second home on Coronado Island, California. Marguerite passed away in October 2007 after 49 years together. He and his second wife, Beverly were married in 2010 and bought a home in Chula Vista better adapted to his decreased mobility from Parkinson’s Disease.

His many philanthropic endeavors included involvement with Arizona Opera, Challenger Space Center, ASU Cronkite Foundation & Endowment, Arizona Kidney Foundation, House of Broadcasting Museum and a host of other community activities.

Jack was a member of both the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle & Gold Circle Societies and a member of the Arizona Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame. Jack passed away on July 28, 2019 at his home in Chula Vista, California.

Jack Parris

INDUCTED: 2003

Jack Parris joined KUAT in 1988 as assistant general manager for the Video Services unit and became director and general manager in 1998.

Television and radio staff members won numerous local and regional awards under his leadership. Among many forward-thinking accomplishments, he oversaw the launch of the first digital television station in Southern Arizona, KUAS-DT.

Jaime Ontiveros

INDUCTED: 2001

Jaime Ontiveros is a Phoenix native who has been in love with all aspects of photography since he was very young. He landed his dream job in 1973, as one of a ten-member news staff at KTVK Channel 3. So, his career behind the camera began. Back then the news was covered using movie film and covering a live event was nonexistent. As technology changed, he found himself at the cutting edge of recording and reporting the news. During his 38 years at Channel 3, he covered some of the biggest stories in Arizona. These included the Bob Crane murder case, the impeachment of Governor Mecham, and the sad bombing of Arizona Republic Reporter Don Boles, just to name a few. He respectfully recorded the visits of Mother Theresa and Pope John II. Every day, his focus was to record the news for the people in Arizona. One of the highlights of his career was being inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter Silver Circle Society, because a committee of his peers that he worked with daily, gave it. Since retiring in 2009, he has continued to explore the world from behind the lens of his camera.

Jan D'Atri

INDUCTED: 2010

Jan D’Atri is an Emmy-award winning television host and producer, radio talk show host, food writer, web video content creator and cookbook author. She is the longest running female on-air television personality in Arizona. She who currently co-hosts and is the food and lifestyle contributor for Arizona Midday on KPNX Channel 12.

She has maintained two parallel careers for nearly 40 years, both in television and in the food industry. Jan has owned two restaurants and a gourmet food company in Arizona and created an exclusive line of Italian Biscotti for QVC. Her cooking columns have appeared in print for more than 14 years and most recently she has created the social media cooking video series, The One Minute Kitchen^© and The One Minute Kid’s Kidchen^©, surpassing one half a million views.

Jan has new radio show on KTAR 92.3 FM, Dishin’ it Up with Jan D’Atri.

Jan’s passions are cooking and fly-fishing. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband John and their 24 adopted pets including her beloved brood of chickens.

Jan Jacobson

INDUCTED: 2009

DECEASED

Jan was a journalist, photographer, realtor, author, editor, public relations and marketing consultant, and radio show host, whose contributions to the television industry garnered her the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ prestigious Governor’s Award. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Jan moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s after graduating from Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and began her career as a professional journalist. An author by the age of 23, Jan wrote the Amphoto Guide to Framing & Display and the Professional Guide to Green Plants. She was an editor to two other books and at Big Valley magazine, where she was introduced to the entertainment and television industry, interviewing celebrities and focusing on the motion picture and television industry. She was also active in a number of local professional organizations, including the Valley Press Club (where she was President) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), where she also served as President.

She left Big Valley to accept the position of Director of Communications for U.S. Administrators (First Health). While at USA, Jan met her husband Dan and together they moved to Phoenix in the late 1980s. In Phoenix, Jan quickly established herself as a member of the media, starting her own public relations firm, JB Communications, and beginning her involvement with NATAS. Past regional president and national trustee of the organization, she also served on the Academy’s National Public Relations Committee and as an advisor to TV Quarterly magazine. In addition to the Governor’s Award, Jan was the recipient of two Presidential Emmy^® Awards and was inducted into the Academy’s Silver Circle Society in 2009, an initiative with which she had been involved since its inception in 1993.

An internationally published photojournalist, publicist and independent producer, she has served as editor and writer for national, regional and local consumer and trade magazines, newspapers, and newsletters including Adweek, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and Business Week. She frequently wrote for the Business Journal and Arizona Homes & Lifestyles Magazine. She was also a contributor to the Arizona Republic, Arizona Business Gazette, Foothills Focus, North Central News and many other publications. A board member for six years at the House of Broadcasting Museum in Phoenix, Jan also received a Journalist of the Year Award at the Hollywood Fame Awards in 2008 and was honored in 2009 with a Career Achievement in Journalism Award from the Phoenix Music Awards. She also served as the Public Service Director for Sandusky Radio’s five local stations and as host and producer of the weekly, hour-long public affairs program, Valley Focus. Jan passed away in 2010 at the age of 58.

Jay Crandall

INDUCTED: 2019

For more than 30 years Jay Crandall has been a dedicated journalist willing to push the boundaries. His Emmy^®-award winning work at KTVK-TV includes producing morning and evening newscasts, both hard hitting and feature stories and long-form specials. Working at Arizona’s top-rated independent station allowed him the freedom to take creative risks and use his skill as a wordsmith to produce Hollywood-style stories and special features.

Jay began his career as an intern and although he was first hired full-time as a videotape editor, his sights were set on writing and producing both behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera. As the producer of KTVK’s first ever morning newscast, Jay incorporated many elements which are now standard in morning television, such as the utilization of a weather person as an “out-and-about” reporter and bringing experts in studio as regular guest segments. Soon after, Jay led KTVK’s 5 p.m. newscast to the number one ratings spot. He then moved to special projects where he developed fast-paced celebrity, lifestyle and fashion news stories which not only helped define KTVK’s signature style but inspired colleagues as they moved on to produce nationally syndicated shows such as Extra and TMZ. Jay also developed and produced KTVK’s first and only political talk show, “Politics Unplugged,” which continues to broadcast on 3TV.

As a special projects producer Jay helped lead the transition to digital editing and crafted elements including the signature show open for Good Evening Arizona and unique segments like “Worth a Listen” featuring up and coming musicians. Jay produced several Emmy^® nominated and winning specials including “The Lion King: Behind the Mask,” “Phoenix Rising,” “Granite Mountain Hotshots: Heroes and Heartbreak” and “Rachel’s Challenge.” In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Jay traveled to New Orleans where he produced and reported live on-the-scene and from the set providing residents with valuable information in the wake of that disaster.

Currently, Jay works as a Public Information Officer for the city of Glendale, Arizona where he continues to enterprise and produce stories for Glendale Media and the city’s social media platforms still seeing himself first and foremost as a journalist bringing viewers information to enrich their lives.

Jay McSpadden

INDUCTED: 2005

Jay McSpadden started his career in 1977 in Odessa, Texas as a television news photographer. He had a 4-year stint in Oklahoma City and eventually made his home in Phoenix working at KPNX-TV. Jay worked at NBC Affiliate, KPNX- TV Channel 12 until he retired in 2018. During his time at KPNX, Jay covered some pretty exciting stories including: Presidential Inauguration of George H.W. Bush, the Oklahoma City bombing, San Francisco Earthquake, and Johnny Carson’s last show.

Jay is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Silver Circle Society, recognizing individuals who have served in the industry for a minimum of 25 years, with the majority being spent in the Rocky Mountain Southwest region. Individuals selected for induction have done more than work professionally for 25 years. They are the best and brightest in our business with extensive public service, mentoring, leadership and professional accolades.

Jeff Halberg

INDUCTED: 2014

In college, Jeff was interested in photography and chose it as his major. He studied at Arizona State University. One day, at ASU he went to KAET, the University PBS Affiliate, and asked if they hired students. Back then, they had a volunteer program for students which he applied for. He was one of five selected from a pool of 80 and began working at the public television station.

Also, while a student, Jeff pursued his interest in flying by working weekends at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport. During that time, he was able to obtain his private pilot’s license. While working at both KAET and Sky Harbor, Jeff continued his studies as a part-time student and graduated from ASU.

Jeff worked at KPHO-TV after graduation and worked on their newscasts and many commercial projects. One of his favorite programs to work with was “The Wallace and Ladmo Show”. Also, he worked at KPNX-TV as a Production Director, directing the 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00pm newscasts.

When KAET started the “Horizon” Public Affairs program Jeff was hired as a staff member to direct it. He has been on the staff ever since.

Jeff is now the Manager of Production Services at Eight, Arizona PBS and oversees all studio production and events. He has enjoyed many years of training and working with ASU students to prepare them for the workplace. He also taught video production for 14 years at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunications at Arizona State University. In 2014 he was inducted into the Silver Circle Society in The Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Jeff flew a traffic watch airplane for over 4 years with a reporter on radio stations KFYI and KKFR. He went on to earn his Airline Transport Pilot Certificate (ATP). Combining his two passions he has done some aerial photography on his own and has also worked on aerial shoots from helicopters. Jeff was in the helicopter which was used for the opening scene in KAET’s groundbreaking open-heart surgery program, “The Operation,” which he also directed and was broadcast live on the PBS network and internationally.

Married for 26 years to his wife, Susan, Jeff has three children –His son, Kyle, is an attorney in Missouri, and his daughter, Tegan, is an Emergency Room Physician Assistant in Maryland. His son, Reed, is studying computer Science at Chapman University in California.

Jennifer Doan

INDUCTED: 2020

Jennifer Doan is proof of the adage that if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person.

Jennifer Doan started her career while in college as a Graphics Operator at KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City, where she worked her way up to a Production Assistant. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Oklahoma, Doan moved to Phoenix in 1997 to take a job as a News Management Intern at KPHO-TV. After taking a year off from broadcasting to travel and perform around the world with Up With People, Doan returned to Phoenix in 1999 to join KSAZ FOX 10, where she is now the weekday Morning Show Producer from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

“Jennifer can’t sit still,” says co-worker Jeff Moriarty. “It could be blamed on her constant influx of chai tea lattes, but honestly it is rooted in her unwavering desire to help others however she can. She is the kind of person who constantly works to lift others up in both large and small ways. In the often overly competitive world of television, she works to support people and help them advance their careers. In my role as Digital Director, I worked to bring a lot of new ideas into FOX 10, many of which met with resistance by the veteran talent and employees. Not Jennifer. She loves trying new things and reaching out beyond her comfort zone. Television has been going through incredible changes the past few years, and rather than rest on the ‘way we’ve always done it,’ Jennifer incorporates new tools, new ideas, and tells stories in new ways. That energy and creativity was evident in her show, which is what it made it so successful.”

“Jennifer is the heart and soul of Fox 10's Morning Show,” says Moriarty. “She knows everyone in the Valley and can find an expert or a place to expand a story or topic. Give her a blank planning sheet and she can send out 12 texts and fill a two hour show as fast as she can type on her Blackberry. It’s more than just filling time, though. Jennifer loves the people who make up the stories she’s trying to tell.”

In addition to producing “Arizona Morning” on Fox10, Doan is deeply involved in the community. She serves on the board of directors for Phoenix Sister Cities Commission, VNSA (a Phoenix non-profit that collects used books and holds one sale a year to benefit Arizona nonprofits) and the Reach Out Alumni Assistance Network, which raises thousands of dollars every year to help Up With People alumni across the globe who have found themselves in difficult situations.

For the past nine years, Doan has served on the Board of Governors for the National Association of Television Arts Sciences - Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter. She is the current secretary and its former Second Vice President and Chairperson/Producer of its annual, regional Emmy^® Awards gala.

Jewell Lewis

Jewell McFarland Lewis was born in Fairfield, Iowa, she came by train to live in Arizona at a mere 6 weeks old. She was heavily influenced by her father, the late Ernest W. McFarland, who served his state and country as a U.S. Senator, Senate Majority Leader, Governor and Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. He was a founder of Arizona Television Company, KTVK Channel 3, in 1955 which began the family’s introduction to the communications industry. Jewell leaves behind a brilliant legacy of compassion, service and stewardship for the state she loved, and causes for which she truly believed. She was passionate about education. Jewell graduated cum laude from the University of Arizona, received her M.A. from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and earned a Ph.D. in secondary reading from Arizona State University. She taught for almost 20 years in Florence and Coolidge. Her commitment to education is further demonstrated by the generous gifts of $2 million to each of Arizona’s universities given by she and her husband Delbert. The “mom and pop” status she and Del earned as owners of KTVK Channel 3 became a trademark in the industry. In 1994, Jewell became the first Phoenix woman inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame and is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter’s Silver Circle Society. When the Lewis’ sold Channel 3 in 1999, it was the largest family-owned media company in the United States. That stature allowed her the resources to affect countless organizations and causes. And as she embraced those causes, she exuded a genuine, caring spirit that always made a difference. Her civic activities are numerous and varied. Jewell and Del served as co-chairs of the capital campaign for the restoration of the Orpheum Theatre, which re-opened in January, 1997. The auditorium was renamed the “Lewis Auditorium” in honor of Del and Jewell and their family. The Jewell McFarland Lewis Fresh Start Women’s Resource Center, the first self-help center for women in Arizona, opened in April 2002. Her support of the effort is a clear reflection of her passion to help others. Jewell passed away at the age of 73 in 2003.

Joe Chitwood

INDUCTED: 2011

Joe began his career as a videographer with the College of Agriculture at the University of Arizona in 1984. He then moved across campus to Arizona Public Media (KUAT Communications Group) where he ran the MultiMedia department, specializing in improvement of the educational process through emerging technologies, such as developing the UA’s Distance Learning Unit into a nationally known organization.

As assistant general manager for MultiMedia, Joe managed EBS (WiMax) frequencies, satellite, cable, fiber-optic, microwave, and Internet technologies, as well as satellite operations and productions with CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox Sports, and ESPN. He served as vice president for the National ITFS Association, Educational Broadband Service Advisory Board to Sprint/Nextel, and the Technology Policy Advisory Board to the City of Tucson’s Mayor and Council (TechPac). Joe chaired the UA’s Wireless Design Team (WiFi) and was a member of the UA Strategic Network Plan and Rates Initiative Study. For two five-year cycles he produced Telerounds, a nationally televised program via satellite, funded by the National Institutes of Health, which endowed the UA with the National Center for Neurogenic Communication Disorders.

For nearly a decade, Joe also was a facilitator in the Media Arts Professional Practices course, preparing students for a career in media arts. He was a valued jury member for the Media Arts Creative Advertising course, which leads students through a semester-long video promotion project that culminates in a juried presentation of their ideas.

After leaving Arizona Public Media, Joe was a Technical Manager for Fox Sports, IMG and other national networks.

As station manager for NAU-TV at Northern Arizona University, Joe managed three cable channels, an Internet site and Facebook channels. He helped produce Lumberjack sporting events and oversaw the transition from standard to high definition in two studios, master control, and a high-end HD production truck.

Joe has garnered many local, state and national awards, including Emmy^® Awards for ABC’s Good Morning America Team Emmy^® (Audio), and a Team Emmy^® (Production Manager) for a PBS Children’s Special with Cokie Roberts. In 2011 he was inducted in to the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter-NATAS Silver Circle Society, which recognizes individuals who have served in the industry for at least 25 years.

Joe has spent many years volunteering with the Rotary Club of Tucson, assisting the organization in funding the Reading Seed program. He holds a BA in Radio & Television and a Master’s in Education from the UA.

Joe Diaz

INDUCTED: 2016

New Mexicans have been turning to the Emmy^® Award winning Action 7 News Chief Meteorologist Joe Diaz for a full and accurate forecast for almost three decades.

Joe has been part of the Action 7 News team for more than 28 years. He originally worked at Action 7 News from 1979 to 1989, and then returned in 1997.

He has racked up numerous awards since then, including the New Mexico Broadcasters Association’s “Best Weathercast” in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2015. He also won The Associated Press “Best Weathercast” award in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Joe also updates regular weather webcast to our KOAT moble app and KOAT.com.

One of Joe’s most memorable — and most frightening — moments as a television meteorologist came in 1989 when, while working for a Houston station, he was sent to cover Hurricane Hugo.

“We were broadcasting from Charleston, South Carolina, as this category-4 hurricane came on shore,” Diaz says. “As we took shelter inside the lobby of the Ramada Inn, a wall caved in and destroyed our $50,000 video camera. Fortunately, no one was hurt.”

Joe is a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and is the first in New Mexico (and 68th nationwide) to be named a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist. This prestigious designation is an upgrade of Joe’s previous AMS Seal of Approval.

Joe also holds the seal of approval from the National Weather Association (NWA).

Joe married his wife, an Albuquerque native, in 1981. They have two adult sons and a very spoiled dog.

Biking, running and golfing with his sons are among his favorite ways to spend personal time, along with an occasional triathlon, are among his favorite ways to spend personal time. Some of the more grueling events he has entered include The La Luz Trail Run up Sandia Mountain and a Half-Ironman event.

Joe Hengemuehler

INDUCTED: 2018

Joe Hengemuehler was born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa. News legend Tom Brokaw is a mentor and family friend, so it’s no wonder Joe has become a 28-year veteran of the broadcast industry.

Joe’s life has required having to explain there are four “e’s” in his last name. He’s the kind of guy who never misses giving an energetic “good morning” via text!

A broadcast journalism major from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, like many, Joe’s career began as a producer before moving into news management. His TV news career has touched millions of viewers and colleagues around the country including KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City, WUSA9-TV in Washington, DC and three Phoenix stations: KPNX-TV, KTSP (now KSAZ) and KNXV-TV, where served as news director for six years.

During his leadership at KNXV, the station received the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter Emmy^® Award for Overall News Excellence and two George Foster Peabody Awards.

Most recently, Joe served as Vice President and General Manager of KOLD-TV, in Tucson, where he also previously served as News Director.

Joe is past president of the Arizona Chapter of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association and has held membership positions with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Joe was inducted into the Silver Circle Society in 2018.

John Booth

INDUCTED: 2016

John Booth is presently the Executive Producer of Content at Arizona Public Media (Tucson) and has been working in media for over thirty years. A Tucson native, Booth graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Radio & Television in December 1983, then spent the next six years at KUAT, now Arizona Public Media, as a production technician and Videographer/Editor.

In 1989, he moved his family to Portland, Oregon where, over a seventeen year span at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), he shot and edited for such national PBS programs as Frontline, Nova, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, and the highly acclaimed documentary series “Triumph of the Nerds: The History of the Personal Computer; produced and wrote programs including Sinking The Lusitania, Occupied Japan, and episodes of The Great Lodges Of The National Parks and Great American Railway Journeys; and served as a Production Executive managing personnel and finance activities for OPB’s national PBS projects such as History Detectives, West Point, Kingdom Of David, The Aleutians, and reports for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. From 2005 to 2009 Booth was Executive Producer and Director of Production at Eight, Arizona PBS, Phoenix. His credits include the history series Arizona Stories, Arizona Memories of the Seventies, Under Arizona, and Arizona Lodges.

More recently, Booth served as Deputy Director of Content at KCTS9 in Seattle, Washington where he oversaw Television Production, Interactive and Community Engagement. An opportunity to join the creative staff of Arizona Public Media (AZPM) as Executive Producer lured him back to desert. In the past two years AZPM has been awarded 41 individual Emmy^® Awards and the 2015 Overall Excellence Award and 2016 Governors Award.

Booth’s work has earned him multiple awards including two NHK Japan Prizes, Tellys, CINEs, and a Chicago International Film Silver Hugo Award.

Booth and his wife LynnMarie have two children, Nicole and Colby.

John Hollenhorst

INDUCTED: 2012

John Hollenhorst is a Senior Correspondent for KSL Television in Salt Lake City.

Born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota, John began a life-long love affair with the Intermountain West in 1969 when, following a tour of duty in Viernam, he was sent to Utah’s Dugway Proving Ground by the U.S, Army.

After he left the Army, he returned to his native state of Minnesota, He graduated with a BA in Journalism from the University of Minnesota and began his reporting career as a print journalist in Minneapolis.

In 1975 John moved back to Salt Lake City. After driving a Yellow Cab for nearly a year, he began his broadcasting career by taking a job answering telephones at KSL. Within a few months, he moved up to reporter and was given the assignment of Courts Specialist for KSL.

John spent a couple years as general assignment reporter for WFM in Dallas and served Assistant Bureau Chief for Bonneville International in D.C. in the 80’s before returning to Salt Lake City and KSL in 1986.

Mr. Hollenhorst was selected to be a William Benton Fellow in Broadcast Journalism in 1990. During his fellowship year at the University of Chicago his studies emphasized science and history.

He has won numerous awards over the years, including The National Headliners Award. The Society of Professional Journalists named him Utah's "Best TV Reporter" three years in a row.

John Hook

INDUCTED: 2016

John Hook joined the FOX10 News team in August of 1993. He anchors an hour of news on both “FOX 10 News @ 5 pm” and “FOX 10 News @ 9 pm.” John and co-anchor Kari Lake make up “Hook and Lake,” the longest running news team in the Valley. John also hosts Fox10 Newsmaker Sunday every Sunday morning at 5:30am.

John has spent 32 of his 33 years in broadcasting in Arizona. He has earned more than a dozen Rocky Mountain Emmy^® Awards in that time. He’s been Associated Press’ Anchor of the Year five times. During his tenure in Phoenix, John has covered every major story for more than a quarter of a century. In 2002, John was inducted into the Walter Cronkite School “Hall of Fame” at his alma mater. A true supporter of future broadcasters, John established the John Hook Endowment Scholarship at ASU. John is also passionate about promoting organ donation.

When he’s not on set or in the field, John enjoys spending time with his wife, Gina Salazar Hook and their children, twelve-year-old twin boys and a ten-year-old daughter.

John Howe

INDUCTED: 2009

John Howe is an accomplished executive producer, television producer-director-writer-cinematographer with a long track record of national PBS success with many of television’s significant awards. He lives in the ski resort town of Park City, Utah and is currently KUED’s executive producer.

He is probably best known as a producer-director-writer-cinematographer of long form network films which have been narrated by Academy Award winners Robert Redford and Joanne Woodward as well as Academy Award nominee Hal Holbrook, beloved Hollywood actress Ali MacGraw, E.G. Marshall (of National Geographic fame), television actor Robert Urich (Vegas, Lonesome Dove), Peter Coyote (national Emmy^® Award winner for best narrator for Ken Burns, PBS The Roosevelts), Joseph Campanella (of National Geographic, Imax, and Jacques Cousteau fame), Edward Asner (Mary TylerMoore show, Lou Grant), Roma Downey (Touched By An Angel), Rod McKuen, etc. (National Parks – Troubled Edens, Unspoken-America’s Native American Boarding Schools, Return of the Wolves: The Next Chapter, Wild Horses of the West, Wallace Stegner, Wilderness: The Great Debate, Butch Cassidy and The Outlaw Trail, Wild River: The Colorado, Desert Wars: Water and the West, Utah: The National Parks, The Snow Wolves, Return of the Wolves, Arctic Wars, The Long Walk: Tears of the Navajo, Nuclear National Park, The Last Cowboys, River of Stone, Desert Dreams, Wild Horses, Artists of the West, America’s Legacy of Wetlands, The Winds of Time, Troubled Waters, Backstage,etc.)

John Howe served as executive producer for the Christmas with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir national series on PBS which was consistently their highest rated holiday performance special. It features world class talent such as the national Emmy^®-winning Muppets, Grammy Award winner Natalie Cole, Alfie Boe from Broadway’s Les Miserables, legendary NBC journalist Tom Brokaw, Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough, Hollywood actress Jane Seymour, Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes (“Cinderella”), world class soprano Renee Fleming, actor Peter Graves, Sissel, Audra McDonald, Frederica von Stade, Bryn Terfel, among many others. He directed the national PBS special, Christmas with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir featuring The Canadian Brass and Roma Downey. He was Executive Producerof the national PBS special A Gift of Music featuring conductor Keith Lockhart (PBS Boston Pops) and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The MTC special with The Muppets was one of the highest rated shows nationally on PBS for that ratings period. The Piano Guys: Live at Red Butte Gardenfeatures the YouTube sensation produced for PBS national pledge and Sony Records.

Yellowstone Symphony premiered nationally on PBS in March 2019. Unspoken: America’s Native American Boarding Schools was distributed nationally on the World Channel to PBS stations.

John Howe holds a Master’s Degree from San Diego State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Arizona State University.

John Kelso

John William Kelso was born on June 9, 1932 in Vinton, Iowa. He moved to Arizona in 1941. John began his career working for Goodyear Aerospace in 1951. While working at Goodyear in 1958, he began to pursue a career in television production as a cameraman for KOOL-TV Channel 10 News (now KSAZ FOX 10). He continued at Goodyear until 1989 when he retired and dedicated himself full time to television production. In addition to his duties at Channel 10, he was well known for his exceptional freelance work that ranged from sporting events to concerts. During his tenure at Fox 10, John was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Silver Circle Society, established in 1992 to recognize industry leaders, who have served over 25 years.

In 2004, John retired from Fox 10 to spend more time with his family and friends. Professional responsibilities aside, John was a man of many personal interests. John had an appetite for knowledge; he studied extensively on topics of technology, space exploration, and astronomy. John was most content spending time with his family and friends on the beaches of San Diego.

John passed away Sunday, February 12, 2006. He was survived by his wife, Patricia, two sons, a daughter and many grandchildren.

John Smith

INDUCTED: 2001

DECEASED

John Smith got his start in radio in 1967 at KXIV in Phoenix as a summer relief newscaster and audio producer. He moved onto KTAR TV as a camera operator and later as director. John managed Levitz Furniture’s television production department for some time, then joined Meredith Corporation in 1974 as a director/producer. In 1975 he became Executive Producer and in 1976 Production Manager. He was promoted to Director of Operations of KPHO-TV in 1996, holding that position until his retirement in 2001. John Smith passed away November 2014 after a long battle with cancer.

John Thorwaldson

INDUCTED: 2010

Jon Thorwaldson has seen KPHO-TV go from a small independent station to a full fledged CBS affiliate, now with over 28 hours of live news programming a week. Jon is required to be involved in everything from repairing live trucks seconds before airtime to planning major projects, such as the entire conversion of KPHO-TV from analog to High Definition.

As KPHO was converting its entire operations to digital, Jon led the main effort on the new building addition that currently houses the Digital Television Operating Center. He was instrumental in implementing the project at several points, navigating governmental regulations, tight budgets and strict timelines. This ongoing work will soon allow KPHO to run the master control rooms of not only their sister TV station in Las Vegas but also their two stations in Portland.

Jon is at the center of KPHO’s emergency preparedness efforts with regard to generators and UPS systems. He has recently spearheaded the transition of their generator and power monitoring systems to new computerized applications, which has dramatically improved KPHO’s general awareness of their backup power systems. He almost solely manages the testing and maintenance program for this highly critical aspect of KPHO’s facility, which allows them to stay on the air in the event of a catastrophic power failure.

Jon has been with the station for over 30 years and has earned the respect from his colleagues for his commitment to quality which is crucial to the success of KPHO-TV.

John Vasseur

INDUCTED: 2008

John Vasseur has worked in the television business as a Producer/Director for over 30 years. A University of Arizona alumni and huge fan, John's first job after U of A was in New York City with Major League Baseball Productions. After more than 10 years in the NYC market, Vasseur moved back to Arizona, this time to the Valley. He worked for Fox Sports Arizona, Arizona Diamondbacks, local ad agencies and many years of freelance, producing shows including "We've Got Your Game", Golf'n Arizona, TapOut VTC and others. John is proud to have covered many of the biggest sports events in the country, including Super Bowls, World Series, Final Fours, NCAA Bowl games, NBA Finals, Stanley Cups, US Opens in both golf and tennis, and others.

He has worked mostly in sports, but has done corporate, charity and entertainment production as well.

John has been nominated for six Emmy^® Awards and won 13 Telly Awards. Recently John has produced videos for former Attorney General Grant Woods and 2019 "Arizona Spring Training Live" for Stadium Sports network.

John lives in Scottsdale with wife Sandy and have two successful children, Katie and Johnny.

Check out his website at johnvasseur.com.

John Warren

INDUCTED: 2005

For more than 40 years, John Warren has worked in both radio and television in order to tell stories. After graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism from Northern Arizona University in 1976, John started his television reporting career in Flagstaff, before moving to Tucson, and finally to Phoenix, where he was hired to be a reporter at KOOL-TV (now KSAZ-TV). John eventually moved to KTVK-TV, where he was the News Assignment Manager for 20 years and managed the day-to-day operation of the news desk and directed a staff of 60 or more people. John became an assignment editor “because I had a desire to do more than just tell one story. I wanted to tell them all. The assignment editor is involved in every story that is presented; how the story is told and what message we are telling our audience. We help shape the message and as a trained journalist we make certain that every story is not only truthful but also accurate.”

John is currently the Content Manager at KPNX-TV in Phoenix, where he continues to make daily news assignments and manage the logistics of reporting the news.

“I have been a part of some of the most logistically demanding story telling opportunities over my career and those were some of the most rewarding times of my life,” says Warren. “From the Super Bowl coverage to the Presidential debates and the Phoenix Open to the marches on the State Capitol. Through it all, the logistics planning was important because the purpose is to be able to tell the story, without letting the effort it took to bring the story to the audience get in the way of the message. In the end, I can say that I am a storyteller who endeavors to live up to the career and profession I have chosen.”

John credits Bill Miller, Phil Alvidrez and Dennis O’Neil for helping to shape and guide his career.

Jon Ruby

INDUCTED: 2002

Jon F. Ruby changed the face of Tucson TV during his 28 years as general manager of KVOA. Ruby was born in Oak Park, IL. and graduated from Indiana University before serving in the Army. From there, he joined a Chicago advertising agency and ventured into television when he joined WLS-TV, the ABC-owned station in Chicago, as an account executive. He eventually worked his way up to general sales manager.

Ruby was hired as general manager for KVOA in 1974. The station was struggling financially and was the market’s lowest-rated news station when he arrived. Within two years both the 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. newscasts were rated No. 1. He’s also known for creating the first logo for the station. He drew it on a cocktail napkin.

Ruby retired from the station in August 2002. “Jon was known to be competitive and tough as nails on the outside while a big teddy bear on the inside,” said KVOA-TV News Director Cathie Batbie. “He appreciated hard work. Professionally, he served a term as president of the Tucson Broadcasters Association and was on the board of the Arizona Broadcasters Association. In 2002, Ruby was inducted into the Silver Circle Society of the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and in 2004 he was named to the Arizona Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

Jon died May 17, 2011, at the age of 73.

Jose Teposte

INDUCTED: 2022

Jose “Big Joe” Teposte is a fixture in the Yuma television scene. A native of that southern Arizona city, Jose began his broadcasting journey at the local NBC affiliate right after high school. In his 25 + years at KYMA, Jose has held a dozen different jobs from Floor Director to Photographer to News Operations Manager, but his biggest contribution to broadcasting may be the people he has helped along the way.

Jose’s nomination was filled with accolades about his mentoring, both seeking the right mentor and being one to others. His success as a newsroom leader has positioned him as one of the most sought-after mentors for journalists. Many careers were launched and flourished because he took the time and interest to guide young broadcasters along the right path, but Jose’s desire to give back extends beyond his journalistic ethos. Because of his strong roots in the community he created the Dezert Syndicate Car and Bike Club in 2018. The club brings together members with an interest in philanthropic work to help those who need a helping hand. As a founder of this organization, he has facilitated the development of food pantries in neighborhoods that face food insecurity and coordinated efforts to raise funds, gather supplies, and bring awareness to social issues within Yuma County. Jose is always willing to pitch in for the good of the community regardless of the mission.

His philosophy has remained the same since the day he first looked through a viewfinder, community is everything. He is a trailblazer, both as a journalist and as a role model for young professionals. His passion for leadership, commitment to the professional development of others and focus on providing high-quality talent make him a perfect addition to the Silver Circle.

Joseph Manning

INDUCTED: 2001

Joe was served as the Manager of Engineering (Chief Engineer) during the formative years of KAET TV, Channel 8. The Public Broadcasting Service affiliate in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Rocky Mountain Southwest chapter’s Silver Circle Society.

Jude LaCava

INDUCTED: 2015

For the past 22 years, Jude has been the sports anchor for FOX 10 in Phoenix and host of FOX 10 SportsNight on Sunday nights. Prior to coming to FOX 10, Jude hosted the 620 Sportsline for four years on KTAR radio in Phoenix. He has won numerous journalism awards, including two Rocky Mountain Emmy^® Awards and numerous Associated Press honors. Jude was the Phoenix Suns analyst during the ‘92-‘93 season and was also the original voice of the Arizona Rattlers in their initial season in 1992.

Jude is actively involved in Arizona charity work, including the Italian American Federation. He is a past president of the Heather Farr Foundation, the spokesman for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and a board member of the Dorothy Foundation. This small group is dedicated to finding a pre-stage-one cancer test (more here: Dorothy-Foundation.org). The foundation is named for Jude’s mother.

SILVER Circle

SOCIETY MEMBERS

The Silver Circle is not an award; it’s a society of honor.
Television professionals are inducted to recognize significant contributions made by these individuals to our industry for 25 years or more.

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EMMY^® EXPRESS

SILVER Circle

SOCIETY MEMBERS

The Silver Circle is not an award; it’s a society of honor.Television professionals are inducted to recognize significant contributions made by these individuals to our industry for 25 years or more.

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D — E

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