Spring Break
The Daily OrangeAlumnus provides inspiration for lifetime achievement award
Meet the Press host Tim Russert to win inaugural award
By Justin Boehm
Posted: 3/26/08, 1:31 AM EST Section: News
Sitting in her office, Lynn Vanderhoek, the assistant dean for advancement in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, brought out a bobble head doll of Fred Dressler and spoke nostalgically about the influence he made on Newhouse's ability to raise funds for scholarship and building the latest Newhouse structure.
In honor of the late alumnus, '63, the Fred Dressler's name was attached to the Lifetime Achievement Award as a part of the Newhouse School's Mirror Awards.
Dressler had a prominent career in the media industry for more than 30 years, holding his final position as vice president of programming at Time Warner Cable, a job he retired from a few months before his death from pancreatic cancer.
Tim Russert, host of "Meet the Press" will receive the first Fred Dressler Lifetime Achievement Award, an award given to any figure in the media industry who represents "the best of what we can be," Vanderhoek said.
A lifetime achievement award was given last year to Variety magazine editor in chief Peter Bart.
Tim Russert, "a man who eats, breathes and lives politics," was chosen by a committee of Newhouse faculty and staff, she said.
"(There is) no higher role for the media than its role in the democratic process," Vanderhoek said. She added that a motivation for the selection of Tim Russert was the fact he has such a prominent role in reporting today's political scene.
Newhouse's Mirror Awards is a fundraising event, designed to honor those in the media industry. In the words of Vanderhoek, its creator, the awards go to those who "hold up a mirror to the important role the press plays in our democracy."
Russert has made "Meet the Press" America's most-watched Sunday morning interview program. As host since 1991, Russert has interviewed such noteworthy political figures as President George W. Bush, former President Jimmy Carter and many major political figures in Washington - if it is discussed in Washington, it is discussed on Tim Russert's "Meet the Press."
In honor of the late alumnus, '63, the Fred Dressler's name was attached to the Lifetime Achievement Award as a part of the Newhouse School's Mirror Awards.
Dressler had a prominent career in the media industry for more than 30 years, holding his final position as vice president of programming at Time Warner Cable, a job he retired from a few months before his death from pancreatic cancer.
Tim Russert, host of "Meet the Press" will receive the first Fred Dressler Lifetime Achievement Award, an award given to any figure in the media industry who represents "the best of what we can be," Vanderhoek said.
A lifetime achievement award was given last year to Variety magazine editor in chief Peter Bart.
Tim Russert, "a man who eats, breathes and lives politics," was chosen by a committee of Newhouse faculty and staff, she said.
"(There is) no higher role for the media than its role in the democratic process," Vanderhoek said. She added that a motivation for the selection of Tim Russert was the fact he has such a prominent role in reporting today's political scene.
Newhouse's Mirror Awards is a fundraising event, designed to honor those in the media industry. In the words of Vanderhoek, its creator, the awards go to those who "hold up a mirror to the important role the press plays in our democracy."
Russert has made "Meet the Press" America's most-watched Sunday morning interview program. As host since 1991, Russert has interviewed such noteworthy political figures as President George W. Bush, former President Jimmy Carter and many major political figures in Washington - if it is discussed in Washington, it is discussed on Tim Russert's "Meet the Press."
Be the first to comment on this story