Bob Barry, Jr., Frank Barry (eldest Barry son), and Bob Barry, Sr. at the 2010 JayMac Alumni Banquet honoring Bob, Sr.
The Bob Barry Endowment for Student Sports Programs was created in 2010 to provide a student enrichment fund to benefit University of Oklahoma students interested in sports journalism. The endowment is intended to make a meaningful difference in the education of future generations of OU sports journalism students.
Both Bob Barry, Sr. (1951) and Bob Barry, Jr. (1980) were known for being great mentors to students and young professionals. Upon the untimely passing of Bob Barry, Jr. on June 20, 2015, several previous interns voiced their appreciation for the way Junior took them under his wing (see image from Twitter below). The Gaylord College is proud of the legacy that these OU journalism alumni built, and thankful for the mentorship they provided to generations of young sports journalists in Oklahoma.
The Fund provides students the opportunity to follow in the Barrys’ footsteps and report on sporting events away from campus like the NFL and NBA drafts, out-of-town contests, or bowl and championship games.
The fund has enabled students to cover the NFL draft with Gerald McCoy, the Insight Bowl game, and the 2014 Super Bowl among others.
Contributions in memory of Bob Barry, Jr. and/or Bob Barry, Sr. and their legacy in Oklahoma sports journalism can be made payable to the OU Foundation, with Bob Barry Endowment listed in the memo line, and mailed to the below address. Contributions can also be made online at OU Foundation website.
Kaneisha Lloyd
Gaylord College Director of Development The University of Oklahoma
Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication
395 W. Lindsey St., Ste. 3000
Norman, OK 73019 klloyd@ou.edu
Stephanie Frederic, a 1982 Radio/TV/Film graduate, delivered an inspiring speech to our spring graduating class encouraging them to be open to different pathways in life because occasionally you need to “pivot” from the direction you are going in order to seize an opportunity.
Gaylord College graduated 213 undergraduates and 25 graduate students including one Ph.D. at our spring convocation on May 9.
Frederic is owner of FGW, a film production company in Los Angeles. She was named a JayMac Distinguished Alumni in 2015. Read more about Frederic.
Julia Chew with President David Boren, Chairman of the Regents Jon Stuart and Dr. Floyd Simon, president of the Alumni Association.
Julia Chew, a Norman insurance professional and a 1986 Radio/TV/Film graduate, was one of eight exceptional University of Oklahoma alumni and friends who received the 2015 Regents’ Alumni Award in May for their dedication and service to OU. Presented annually by the OU Board of Regents and OU Alumni Association, the Regents’ Alumni Award honors the important roles of OU alumni and supporters to the life of the university.
Chew has been a loyal and fervent supporter of her alma mater since earning her Bachelor of Arts in journalism in 1986. Chew has more than 28 years of experience with State Farm, and held several management positions in Dallas and Texas before becoming an agent in Norman. Since 2002, she has owned her own insurance agency, which provides a full range of insurance and financial products and services. Chew’s Norman insurance agency regularly achieves the Chairman’s Circle Award, given to the top agents in the country, and in 2012, the agency was designated as a President’s Club, a designation given only to the top 50 agents (out of 19,000) by State Farm. Her agency has consistently been named as “Best Insurance Agency in Norman” by readers of The Norman Transcript.
While a student at OU, Chew was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, for which she currently serves as an advisory board member. An active OU alumna, her involvement includes speaking at and moderating conferences and mentoring student-athletes, journalism students and members of her sorority.
In addition to serving on several university councils and boards, Chew is active in the OU women’s basketball booster and mentoring club, Sooner Stilettos, and the President’s Associates Council. The OU President’s Associates program connects alumni and friends of the university who share a collective passion for the university; their annual leadership donations support OU’s mission in promoting efforts to help students achieve their educational goals.
A graduate of both Leadership Norman and Leadership Oklahoma, Chew also is active in the community and state, including service on the board of the Norman Chamber of Commerce. She was appointed by then-Gov. Brad Henry to the Oklahoma Board of Judicial Compensation, and recently was named one of The Journal Record’s “50 Making a Difference” Women of the Year nominees.
A committee formed by the Alumni Association selects the award recipients from nominations made by alumni, friends, and OU faculty and staff. Each year’s recipients receive a plaque and their names are engraved on a permanent plaque in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Chew was nominated by the OU President’s Associates.
Judy Gibbs Robinson (center) with four of her editors (from left to right) Page Jones (summer 15 editor), Blayklee Buchanan (fall/spring 14-15 editor), Paighten Harkins (fall/spring 14-15 managing editor) and Dana Branham (fall/spring 14-15 online editor).
Judy Gibbs Robinson, assistant director of Student Media and editorial adviser for The Oklahoma Daily, was inducted into the 2015 Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame this past April.
In addition to serving as faculty adviser to The Daily, Robinson also teaches JMC 2033 – Writing for the Mass Media, the college’s large, gateway journalism class. Like Louise Beard Moore and Jack Willis before her, she is known as being tough as nails on the rules of AP Style, but is equally known to be a student-centered mentor.
“Judy is part of the reason I was able to be editor of The Daily,” said Blayklee Buchanan, 2014-2015 editor in chief of The Daily. “She helped me see that I could be a leader, that I could be a good journalist, and I know she will continue to do that for other students.”
Robinson graduated from the University of Missouri’s journalism school in 1977 and received her master of art in journalism from OU in 2001. She was a broadcast editor for the Associated Press for 10 years and a senior reporter for The Oklahoman for four years following completion of her graduate work.
Other 2015 honorees were Julie DelCour of the Tulsa World, James O. Goodwin and the late E.L. “Ed” Goodwin of the historic Oklahoma Eagle in Tulsa, Ron Hagler of CBS, the late John and Tinker Hruby of the Marlow Review and Comanche County Chronicle, Rose Lane of OKC Friday, Patrick B. McGuigan of The City Sentinel and CapitolBeatOK.com, Gary Reid of the Kingfisher Times & Free Press, Jenifer Reynolds of Discover Oklahoma and Robby Trammell of The Oklahoman.
Daryle Voss, JayMac President; Mary Livermore Bush and Ed Livermore, Jr.; Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote; Stephanie Frederic; and Dean Blevins at the 2014 JayMac Distinguished Alumni awards at Gaylord College.
The JayMac Alumni Association of the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication recognized three graduates with the 2014 Distinguished Alumni award: Dean Blevins, News 9 sports director; Stephanie Frederic, producer and owner of FGW Productions and Transmedia in Los Angeles; and, Ed Livermore, Sr., Oklahoma community newspaper pioneer. Mr. Livermore passed in April and his family will receive his award.
The JayMac Distinguished Alumni award is bestowed annually upon alumni who have distinguished themselves and their organizations with outstanding careers.
About the Award Winners
Dean Blevins
Class of 1978, Journalism
Dean Blevins has held the position of NEWS 9 Sports Director since 2001 and has more than 30 years of broadcast experience in the state of Oklahoma. Blevins is a two-time Emmy Award winner and has been voted the Oklahoma Sportscaster of the Year eight times by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
Blevins has announced college football and basketball games for 25 years, including 14 years for CBS, ABC and ESPN. Beginning in 1985, Blevins has hosted coaches TV and radio shows for Oklahoma coaches including Barry Switzer, Bob Stoops, Jerry Jones, and Eddie Sutton.
Blevins anchors NEWS 9 Sports weekdays and can also be seen co-anchoring the statewide “Oklahoma Sports Blitz” every Sunday night. He has earned a top spot in the pro league of Oklahoma sports broadcasters. In addition to his television broadcasts, he is a co-host of the popular weekday drive-time radio show, “The Total Dominance Hour” on The Sports Animal in Oklahoma City and has hosted his own website since 1990.
Stephanie Frederic
Class of 1982, Radio/TV/Film
Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist Stephanie Frederic is the owner of FGW Productions & Transmedia. Frederic has been recognized seven times by the National Association of Black Journalists with its distinguished Salute to Excellence Award. Other professional honors have come from the California RTNDA, The Houston Press Club, The Houston International Film Festival, The San Francisco Human Rights Commission, The Sabaoth International Film Festival in Milan and the Turks and Caicos and Redemptive Film Festivals.
Starting in 1988, Stephanie was a familiar face as a network news correspondent for Black Entertainment TV. She spent two decades in the industry working for King World Production’s Inside Edition, American Journal and a host of other local stations around the country including KRON- San Francisco (NBC), KRIV-Houston (FOX), KWTV-Oklahoma City (CBS) and KLAX, Alexandria, Louisiana.
Ed Livermore, Sr.
Class of 1940, Journalism, awarded posthumously
Ed Livermore, Sr. was a lifelong newspaperman starting out while in high school at the Hobart Democrat-Chief cleaning the shop and delivering papers. Livermore married his college sweetheart Melba and the two worked side-by-side buying and operating numerous small town newspapers throughout Oklahoma.
Livermore was a long-time champion of the importance of small town newspapers, in 1972 became the first Oklahoman to serve as president of the National Newspaper Association, largest newspaper organization in the country with 6,000 member newspapers. He was the most active president in NNA history, touring the country on behalf of the organization. He also was past president of the Oklahoma Press Association (1959-60). Over the years, the Livermores owned four state newspapers (Claremore Daily Progress, Catoosa Times Herald, Sapulpa Daily Herald and The Edmond Sun-Booster) and publishers of The Progress from 1947 to 1959. They also owned the Sapulpa radio station.
