Faculty member honored on Mackinac Island

By Beau Hayhoe | Originally Published: 06/28/11 6:42pm |Modified: 06/28/11 6:46pm | No comments

MSU faculty member Gary Reid received the Michigan Association of Broadcasters’, or MAB’s, highest honor at the organization’s annual conference on Mackinac Island Monday night.

Reid, who serves as a distinguished senior academic specialist in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, received a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the state’s broadcasting and radio industries.

“I was actually stunned,” Reid said upon learning of the award. “I’d really never expected to be so recognized by a professional organization.”

In addition to his work as an instructor, Reid also serves as associate director of the James H. and Mary B. Quello Center for Telecommunication Management and Law and the general manager for campus radio station WDBM (88.9 FM). The group recently was named the state’s best college radio station by the MAB.

The station staffs its facilities with about 100 student volunteers, and broadcasts 365 days a year.

Reid has played a key role in the station’s growth and excellence, said Karole White, the association’s president and CEO.

“Almost everybody can run a really good station … but Gary went above and beyond that,” White said. “That’s what set him above and apart.”

Reid attributed his success in part to the work of students at the station.

“It’s great for me to get the accolade, but I realize it’s all due to the tremendous students we’ve had,” he said. “Without those students, it wouldn’t be possible.”

White said awards were distributed based on evaluations and nominations from colleagues and peers in the field, namely members of the association’s hall of fame. That makes Reid’s accomplishment even more impressive, she said.

“I think that’s just the ultimate,” White said.

Reid always has brought a great deal of enthusiasm to his work, said Steve Wildman, the James H. Quello Endowed Chair of Telecommunication Studies and the director of the James H. and Mary B. Quello Center for Telecommunication Management and Law.

Wildman has worked with Reid for about 12 years.

“It’s his passion for teaching and, even beyond that, for mentoring,” Wildman said. “I’ve never run into anybody whose former students so universally justified how he changed their careers.”

Reid said he hopes to continue working with students and aspiring broadcasters in the future.

“The great thing to me about education today … is that in today’s world it’s more than just going to class,” he said. “It really is how a young person, a student, interfaces with the professional industry.”