The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications last week honored 50 accomplished alumni at “50Forward,” a gala event in New York City observing 50 years of the Newhouse School and celebrating the strength of the school as it moves into the next 50 years. Mike Tirico ’88, sportscaster with ABC and ESPN, served as emcee.
Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham and Donald Newhouse, president of Advance Publications (front center) join the 50 alumni honorees for a group photo at the start of the event. In the second row (from left) are emcee Mike Tirico ’88 and spotlight honorees Tonia O’Connor ’91, Larry Kramer ’72, Rob Light ’78, Kitty Lun G’80 and Bob Costas ’74.
“This is an opportunity to honor 50 of our stellar alumni and their impressive achievements,” said Dean Lorraine Branham as she welcomed guests. “But more than that, we look forward—hence the phrase ’50Forward’—and celebrate the bright future of the school, its future graduates and what is sure to be another outstanding 50 years.
“Tonight we bring together generations of Newhouse alumni—the legends and leaders, the innovators and entrepreneurs, as well as today’s movers-and-shakers, the forward thinkers and media leaders who, like their predecessors, will continue to represent the Newhouse School and extend its reputation as—I’m just going to go ahead and say it—the number one communications school in the country!”
Special recognition went to Bob Costas ’74, sportscaster with NBC, whose award was presented by Ross Greenburg, former president of HBO Sports; Larry Kramer ’72, former president and publisher of USA TODAY, whose award was presented by Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews”; Rob Light ’78, partner and managing director/head of music at Creative Artists Agency, whose award was presented by Bette Midler, actress and singer; Kitty Lun G’80, chairman and CEO of Lowe China, whose award was presented by Michael Roth, chairman and CEO of Interpublic; and Tonia O’Connor ’91, president of content distribution and corporate business development at Univision Communications, whose award was presented by Teresa Rodríguez, co-anchor of Univision’s “Aquí y Ahora.” For a full list of honorees, click here.
Mike Tirico ’88, Melissa Richards-Person ’89 and Oliver Lay ’89 pose for a “selfie” at the end of the gala program. Tirico was emcee and Richards-Person was one of the 50 honorees.
In addition, the school presented the Tony Malara Award for Distinguished Service to Joan Adler G’76, assistant vice president for regional programs with Syracuse University; Bob Gautieri ’76, founding partner of Design on the Fly; Scott Koondel ’85, executive vice president and chief corporate content licensing officer with CBS Corp.; and Bryan Wiener ’92, chairman of 360i.
Gala co-chairs were Martin Bandier, chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing; Ron Meyer, vice chairman of NBCUniversal; Reda Raad ’95, CEO of TBWA\RAAD Middle East; and David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications.
Alumni co-chairs were Deborah Henretta G’95, senior advisor with SSA & Company and retired group president with Procter & Gamble; Scott Koondel ’85, executive vice president and chief corporate content licensing officer with CBS Corp.; John Sykes ’77, president of entertainment enterprises with iHeartMedia; and Tirico.
