VCU news

By Ian Little
VCU School of Mass Communications

RICHMOND, Va. – Four Virginia communications professionals – a newspaper editor, a cable television pioneer, a broadcast entrepreneur and a celebrated historian/author – will be inducted April 15 when the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame returns to The Jefferson Hotel for its 2004 event.  The 17th induction ceremony will be hosted by the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University.  

The four inductees selected by the Hall of Fame Selection Committee are John D. Evans, Dr. Nelson D. Lankford, Aubrey Eugene Loving, Jr. and William H. Millsaps, Jr.

John D. Evans is an internationally recognized expert in the telecommunications industry and a leader in technological innovation, including Internet 2.  Perhaps best known as the a co-founder of C-SPAN in 1977, he is currently chairman and CEO of Evans Telecommunications Company, an investment, consulting, and operating company in the cable television and telecommunications industries.  

For the past nineteen years Dr. Nelson D. Lankford has been the editor of the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the quarterly journal of the Virginia Historical Society.  His most recent book is an account of the end of the Civil War in Virginia’s capital city, Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital, published by Viking in 2002.   The book was a nonfiction finalist for the Library of Virginia’s annual literary award.

Aubrey Eugene Loving, Jr. is chairman and CEO of Max Media LLC, a Virginia Beach media company that owns and operates television, radio and alternative media.  In 1991, he co-founded Max Media Properties.  Loving started TVX Broadcast Group, which became a public company in 1985.  During his 12 year run at TVX it became the nation’s largest group of independent television stations serving 12 markets.  

William H. Millsaps, Jr. has been vice president and executive editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch since Jan. 1, 1994.  Prior to that, he was managing editor of the paper for two years.  Under his leadership in 1993, 1996, 2000 and 2002, the Times-Dispatch won the Virginia Press Association's highest honor for public service and journalistic integrity.  

“We are pleased to recognize these stellar inductees for their many accomplishments that serve as inspiration for future communications professionals,” said Dr. Judy VanSlyke Turk, director of the School of Mass Communications. “This night will be a unique opportunity to celebrate some of the finest Virginia has to offer in journalism and communication professionalism and achievement.”

The celebration will begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the induction ceremony. Tickets are $125 each and can be requested by calling 804/827-3761. Proceeds from the ticket sales will benefit the Hall of Fame permanent exhibit and scholarship fund.