2009

Keith Shipman, a 1983 alumnus, was named President & Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Broadcasting Group, LLC in 2003.  He co-founded the company in 1999, and helped create a stable of 12 radio stations and a minor league baseball team in Oregon and Idaho.  Two of Horizon Broadcasting Group's stations have been honored as Oregon Radio Station of the Year, recognized by the Oregon Association of Broadcasters for their extraordinary community involvement.

He began his commercial broadcasting career in high school as an on-air personality at KPUG-AM (Bellingham, WA) in 1978. Upon graduating from Washington State University in 1983, he embarked on a 17-year stint in Seattle broadcasting, 13 of which were spent with KCPQ (Fox) Television as its Sports and Public Affairs Director. While at KCPQ-TV he was responsible for sports programming and creating and managing several outreach programs that developed new business opportunities and provided a foundation of community involvement. During his tenure at KCPQ-TV he was awarded three regional Emmy Awards, and was selected Sportscaster of the Year in Washington state on three occasions. He also worked for KOMO-AM (Seattle), KIRO-AM (Seattle) and helped launch the Pacific Northwest’s first all-sports radio station, KJR-AM (Seattle) in 1991.

Shipman served on the board of directors for the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association for five years, and presently serves on the Professional Advisory Board for the Murrow College of Communications at his alma mater, Washington State University. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon, the Deschutes Children’s Foundation, the Education Foundation for Bend-LaPine Schools, and the Bend-Mt. Bachelor Rotary. He is past chair of the Board of Governors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Oregon, and is a past member of the Board of Directors of Deschutes United Way.

Tricia Raikes, a 1978 alumnus, has had a successful career in marketing communications. She held positions with Chiat Day Advertising in Seattle and Grey Advertising in their New York City headquarters. From 1981-1986, Tricia built the creative services organization for Microsoft Corporation. As director of creative services, she provided key leadership to a young, growing company and established a high level of quality and excellence in marketing communications. She also co-founded Marketing Partners to provide marketing services to the high tech industry.

As President of the Raikes Foundation, Tricia is an active community service leader with a focus on youth development and education. Tricia is a long-time supporter of United Way of King County where she most recently served as co-chair of the 2006-07 United Way of King County Campaign. Her leadership in higher education includes service on the Board of Directors of the College Success Foundation, and past trustee of the University of Nebraska Foundation and the Washington State University Foundation.

Tricia has been recognized as one of Puget Sound Business Journal’s Women of Influence.

Tom Hunt has practiced public relations in the Portland-Vancouver area since 1983 when he joined Tony Bacon to form Bacon & Hunt Public Relations in Oregon. Over the years he has served  corporate, association and education clients in the Pacific Northwest and nationally, including Westinghouse, U.S. Department of Energy, BP Exploration, BHP Steel, Battelle, Columbia Sportswear, Adidas Golf, S.E.H. America and Clark College. His practice has involved providing media relations, issues and campaign management as well as strategic planning, crisis communication, public involvement and public affairs.

Prior to 1983 Hunt served for three years as director of public affairs and information for the Washington Public Power Supply System where he directed all internal and external communications as well as government affairs. He spent the ten years prior in Washington, D.C. working as press secretary to Congressman Mike McCormack (D-WA) and media and public affairs manager for the Atomic Industrial Forum, a nuclear power trade association. Hunt began his career in eastern Washington radio and television as a news anchor for the Cascade Broadcasting Corporation in Yakima and the Tri-Cities.

A graduate of Washington State University, Hunt is a past chair and member of the professional advisory board to WSU’s Murrow School of Communication. He is also a member of the WSU Foundation, a President’s Associate, a board member of the Clark County Historical Society, a past board member of Leadership Clark County, the Oregon Professional Services Council and is active as a member of the Vancouver Rotary.

2008

Gary Larson, a 1972 alumnus best known for his cartoon panel The Far Side®, was unable to attend the event but sent a message to the school stating how his interest in advertising and biology led to his successful career.

“I never foresaw how this might all come together, but it's pretty clear to me now that my classes at WSU were vital in both nurturing a creative bent I thought I might have, but also in stirring my interest and providing me with a solid background in biology as well,” Larson said.

Larson has received numerous awards, including WSU"s highest award of distinction, the Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1990 and the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year from The National Cartoonists Society in 1991 and 1994, who also named The Far Side Best Syndicated Panel in both 1985 and 1987. He also has published 23 Far Side books, each of which has appeared on The New York Times Best Seller List.

The Far Side® is a registered trademark of FarWorks, Inc.

Kenji Kitatani, a 1977 alumnus,is the Lester Smith Distinguished Professor of Media Management at the School of Communication, a trustee of the WSU Foundation and a senior advisor to the Sports and Entertainment Academy for the Graduate School of Business at Indiana University. He also lectures on media law and management at WSU and Indiana University.

He has served on the Board of Directors of Tokyo Dome Corporation, Japan's leading leisure and entertainment conglomerate, and has worked for the Tokyo Broadcasting System as counsel on international affairs and president of the Media Research Institute.

Kitatani joined Sony Corporation in October 1999 as executive strategist, Media Content, Broadcasting and Communications and was later appointed executive vice president, Business Planning, Sony Corporation of America.

He currently serves as a board director of PIA Corp. He joined Oak Lawn Marketing in April 2006 as their executive advisor. Oak Lawn Marketing is the largest television shopping (DRTV) company in Japan.

Mike Shepard, president of the Seattle Times Washington Affiliate Newspapers and publisher of the Yakima Herald-Republic, is a 1985 Murrow School alumnus and a second-generation newspaper professional. While at WSU he was a reporter and then managing editor of the Daily Evergreen student newspaper.

He began his professional career in 1985 working as courthouse reporter for the Idahonian/Daily News, in Moscow and Pullman. After working for the Kitsap County-based Sound Publishing for nearly 12 years and the Port Orchard Independent, Shepard joined the Seattle Times Company in 2000 as publisher of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin and became publisher of the Yakima Herald-Republic in October 2003.

He has also oversight for The Issaquah Press, the Sammamish Review, the Newcastle News and the SnoValley Star.

His involvement in the community includes serving as president of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, chairing the Professional Advisory Board of WSU’s Murrow School of Communications and serving on the board of directors for Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington.

Pat Scott, a 1967 alumnus, served as president and CEO of Fisher Broadcasting, Inc. from 1992 until his retirement in 2001.

His broadcasting career spans 31 years with Fisher Broadcasting, where he has held positions as floor director, producer/director, production manager, vice president and station manager, executive vice president of broadcast operations and general manager, and eventually president and CEO.

At that time, Fisher Broadcasting owned and operated KOMO 4 Television, Seattle; KATU Television, Channel 2 in Portland; Fisher Television Region Group, comprised of 11 television stations in California, Georgia, Idaho, Oregon and Washington; Fisher Radio Seattle- KOMO AM 1000, KVI AM 570 and STAR 101.5; Fisher Radio Portland, Fisher Radio Regional Group, consisting of 18 stations operating in Montana and Washington; Fisher Communications and Fisher Entertainment.

Scott has been recognized as Broadcaster of the Year from Washington State Association of Broadcasters and has received the WSU President’s Outstanding Service Award for his advocacy and service to WSU and the WSU Foundation.

Ron Carter, a 1966 broadcast communication alumnus, enjoyed a five-year career with the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, San Francisco, before returning to his broadcast roots in 1974 when he became an entry-level sales person at KIRO Newsradio, Seattle. He was promoted to assistant sales manager at KIRO before becoming general sales manager at KPLZ-FM, Seattle, in 1978. In 1981 he returned to KIRO as VP-Sales.

In 1997, he was hired to manage Fisher Broadcasting’s radio properties in Portland, Ore. One of his proudest moments was receiving the NAB Crystal Award in 2002, honoring KWJJ as one of America’s top-ten stations for community service. Carter retired after a 30-year career in radio sales, sales management, and general management. Since 2004, he has worked with a colleague consulting major law firms.

Carter and his wife, Louise, have been involved with the WSU Foundation, serving both as trustees and trustee ambassadors. He has also been a member and president of the WSU’s Edward R. Murrow School of Communication Advisory Board. He has been involved in work to support the Murrow Symposium, served on a task force to study independence for the school, served on the board and was president of Missouri Broadcasters Association, served on the board of Oregon Association of Broadcasters, and served as president of Puget Sound Radio Broadcasters Association.

Tim Pavish, a 1980 cum laude graduate of what is now the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, is vice president for University Relations at WSU and executive director of the WSU Alumni Association. As vice president for University Relations, Pavish is responsible for overseeing all of the university’s marketing, advertising, communications, and engagement initiatives. Pavish also led the WSUAA to become the fastest-growing alumni association in the country.

For over 20 years he worked for DDB Worldwide in Seattle, originally called Elgin Syferd. During his tenure, DDB/Seattle grew from a small agency with approximately 20 employees and $12 million in billings to the largest communications agency in the state of Washington with over 165 employees, a quarter of a billion dollars in billings, and numerous clients across the country.

Pavish was the managing partner in charge of the advertising division which was the agency’s largest and most profitable unit. He guided the agency in becoming a WSU benefactor and established the DDB Minority Student Scholarship to benefit WSU communication students of color. In addition, he led the development of several acclaimed advertising campaigns for the WSU Foundation and WSU Athletics.

The Walla Walla native is a long-time member of the Murrow College Advisory board and a former chair of the board. The revitalized Murrow Symposium, the annual Murrow Award, and a reorganized board structure are three of the innovative initiatives he established while serving on the board. He remains on the Murrow Board as an ex-officio member.

2007