Alumni Profiles
Read what some former HTC students have been doing since graduation!
This just in!
Cara Dingus Brook (HTC English 2002) has been named President and CEO of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. This continues a distinguished career in public service since her graduation. Click here for the full story.
Angela Ulrich (HTC English 1991) has been named the 2007 Volunteer of the Year by Goodwill Industries International. Click here for the full story.
Congratulations to Gina Calcamuggio (HTC History 1992)!
Gina recently accepted the position of Senior Director for Marketing Communications in Ohio University’s Office of Communications and Marketing. We are delighted that someone with such an in- depth knowledge of the Honors Tutorial College will be filling this key role for the university and look forward to working with her to get the word out about HTC.
Andrew Stockey
Telecommunications | Class of 1989
Andrew Stockey is a news anchor for WTAE Channel 4 in Pittsburgh. His list of accolades includes an Emmy award for a special program about the Race for the Cure. Stockey graduated from the Honors Tutorial College with a degree in Telecommunications in 1989. The following is story that appeared about him on WTAE Channel 4's website. (To read the story on WTAE's website, click here.)
Andrew Stockey is the new anchor of WTAE Channel 4 Action News weekday mornings at 5 and 6 a.m. For nearly a decade, he was the Channel 4 Action Sports Director. A Chicago native, Stockey grew up in Simsbury, Conn., and graduated from Ohio University's Honors Tutorial College. He made stops at Fox News and ESPN before starting at WTAE-TV in March 1995. His proudest moment was a round of golf in May 2005 with the legendary Arnold Palmer at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier. Second on his list would be the 2001 Hall of Fame weekend, when he covered the inductions of Lynn Swann in Canton, Ohio, and Bill Mazeroski in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Stockey has won an Emmy Award for a special program about Race For The Cure, as well as Murrow and Golden Quill awards for his sports broadcasting. He won 2005 best sportscast and best sports play-by-play from the Pennsylvania Associated Press. He serves as a Race For The Cure co-spokesperson with Channel 4 Action News anchor Michelle Wright. He's a host/spokesman for United Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Rally For A Cure Breast Cancer Golf Outing, and he serves as a trustee for Chatham College. He also serves as emcee for a variety of local charitable events and causes. Stockey is a movie fan, especially James Bond flicks and "The American President." He lists Taipei Tokyo, The Pittsburgh Fish Market, Shiloh Inn, and The Hideaway in Canonsburg among his favorite area restaurants. His enjoys playing golf on the many diverse courses throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Stockey and his wife, Sharon, reside in Washington County. They have adopted a bischon/poodle named "Boobaloo."
Joe Mahr
Journalism | Class of 1994
Joe Mahr is a journalist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He formerly worked for the Toledo Blade where he won the Pulitzer Prize for his investigative report on Tiger Force during the Vietnam War. Mahr graduated from the Honors Tutorial College in 1994 with a journalism degree.
“I thought I’d become a disc jockey but HTC didn’t have a disc jockey program,” Mahr joked when talking about his choice of the Honors Tutorial College.
Mahr transferred to Ohio University in 1991 from Kent State as a general communication major. Journalism didn’t initially jump out at him but soon after coming to OU, he was hooked. “The love [for journalism] came in when I wrote for first story for [OU student newspaper] The Post.”
“There’s something really intoxicating about digging up information and chasing a story,” Mahr said.
HTC’s background and prestige drew Mahr to its journalism program. After being accepted, he realized how much he enjoyed the tutorial atmosphere. “It's much easier to learn when you can talk one-on-one with professors about subjects. What could have been a lecture instead became a conversation. My tutors also gave me great leeway to explore aspects of the field that interested me.”
When asked about what makes a great journalist, Mahr said one must be inquisitive and ready to learn. According to him, an inquisitive manner carries over into basic common sense, and more importantly, having a passion to expose wrongdoing. “I’m still learning. [Journalism] is a craft and you’re always learning how to hone your skills.”
Besides winning a Pulitzer, Mahr has also written a series of stories looking at abuse and neglect in the mental health system for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he currently works.
Eva Gunasekera
Political Science | Class of 2001
HTC Alumna Eva Gunasekera was recently recognized as a 2006 Outstanding Alum by the College of Arts and Sciences. Eva earned her A.B. and M.A. from the Honors Tutorial College in 2001. Below is an excerpt from an article featuring all 2006 Outstanding Alumni. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
The College of Arts and Sciences Spirit Award recognizes alumni who have graduated in the last 15 years and whose achievements in one or more of three areas reflect the spirit, vitality and high standards of the college.
Spirit Award recipient Eva Gunasekera, AB '01 and MA '01, studied political science in the Honors Tutorial College and worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development. In 2001, she received both her bachelor's and her master's degrees in political science, graduating summa cum laude. She also received the "Outstanding Tutorial Student in Political Science" award from the Honors Tutorial College. Gunasekera went on to earn a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2004. She now practices at Crowell & Moring in Washington, D.C., as a litigation associate. Gunasekera founded the Ohio South Asian Bar Association and currently serves on the board of the North American South Asian Bar Association.
Adam Hochberg
Telecommunications | Class of 1985
Adam Hochberg is a reporter for National Public Radio. Since joining public radio in 1995, he has covered a broad range of topics: the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 2000 election in Florida and its aftermath, economic issues, social and demographic trends, politics and numerous hurricanes. The Radio-Television News Directors Associate has named Hochberg "North Carolina Radio Journalist of the Year" five times. He graduated in 1985 with a degree in telecommunications from the Honors Tutorial College.
A tutorial education surely must have helped prepare Adam Hochberg for his future job at NPR: He works independently at a one-person bureau, traveling solo on all but the very biggest stories.
After graduating in 1985 with a degree in telecommunications, Hochberg began pursuing a career in broadcast journalism. He has worked as the assistant news director at WPTF Radio in Raleigh, and as a reporter at WCHL Radio in Chapel Hill, NC and has contributed to CBS Radio, North Carolina Public Radio, North Carolina's statewide public television network and, of course, NPR.
"I've always been interested in broadcasting, even as a kid, so that's why I majored in TCOM. And working at a broadcast network like NPR, it's impossible to separate the broadcasting part of my job from the journalism," Hochberg said.
When asked about his experience in the Honors Tutorial College, he remembers most an education that allowed him to make personal relationships with professors and gave him the sense that he was engaging in serious scholarship.
"[The required HTC] undergraduate thesis was a rewarding experience, and one that prepared me well for grad school." As a side note, he added, "I wrote about the social effects of MTV, which was a brand new thing in those days... I felt like I was breaking ground!"
In addition, Hochberg's weekly tutorials required hours of preparation but rewarded him with the knowledge that is essential for his job. Although he didn't take journalism classes, his TCOM professors taught him how to do research, ask questions and ingrained in him a healthy dose of skepticism.
His background in broadcasting coupled with his skepticism has helped Hochberg cover several big stories, but he's most proud of the stories where he's been able to introduce listeners to people whose voices aren't often heard in the media. "Textile workers in the rural south, soldiers going off to war, senior citizens who share memories of long-gone places... I'm glad there's still a place for those kinds of stories on NPR. I feel those are the important stories to tell."