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Senior VP of Wendy's named 2008 Distinguished Alumnus
By Mark Kotowski
Denny Lynch, senior vice president of communications for Wendy's, has been named the School of Communication's 2008 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for his impressive success in the field of communication. For the past 29 years, Lynch has overseen both the internal and external communication for Wendy's, the third-largest hamburger fast food chain in the world, acting as their spokesperson and directing their crisis management functions.
Shortly after graduating with a degree in journalism from the School of Communication, Lynch joined Wendy's as a public relations manager. He developed a crisis management system for the company from his experience in the Air force, which proved instrumental in fighting the infamous finger-in-the chili consumer fraud case in a California Wendy's restaurant. He has worked alongside Wendy's founder Dave Thomas for 20 years, traveling the country and managing the successful Dave Thomas marketing campaign. He has also been prominent in the writing and publishing of Thomas' bestselling books. Lynch is president of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which has found homes for over 2,000 foster children since 2005, and directs the Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge, a televised golf tournament.
"If anything, I look at a job in communication as being—first and foremost—resourceful. How do you go find the answer How do you go find a way to get the job done " he says. "The ability to learn persuasive communications is an art, and that talent will feed your career for as long as you want to work."
Lynch has been a guest lecturer at the School of Communication in previous years, speaking to strategic communication classes about his experiences in crisis management, an area in which Wendy's has set an example after winning the California consumer fraud case. "I like to pose the problem and then get the students to suggest approaches. I don't ask them for the answer, but I ask them for the approach," he says. Lynch still also speaks fondly of his experience working for The Lantern. His experience, as well as "the training of learning how to write was an incredible experience that [he] owes to Ohio State."
Undergraduates awarded for achievements
The School of Communication is proud to recognize those students who have made significant contributions to the School this past year either through scholastic achievement, outstanding work in extracurricular activities or in other areas.
The scholarships and awards presented this year are either funded through gifts endowed to the School or through contributions by various supporters. The School appreciates the support of the donors and is pleased that these scholarships offer students recognition of their accomplishments as well as financial aid.
Recipients of the awards were selected by a committee of faculty members based on scholarship award guidelines. The School of Communication is pleased to recognize these students and alumni and we honor their achievements.
This year’s award ceremony was held May 10 in the Faculty Club. Keynote speaker, Distinguished Alumnus Award winner Denny Lynch told more than 40 students and their parents, “My degree in communication literally brought the world to my feet.”
Give a gift to the School of Communication.
Washington Post editor, alumnus visits OSU
By Richard Oviatt
Leonard Downie Jr., one of the most respected men in modern journalism and an Ohio State alumnus, came back to visit OSU on February 11th. Downie spoke to journalism faculty and students for over an hour and followed that with a lecture and book signing for his new novel "The Rules of The Game.”
The event was presented jointly by OSU's Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism, the John Glenn School of Public Affairs, and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Carroll Glynn, director of the School of Communication, was thrilled to have Downie back on campus. "It's really important for the university to keep in touch with its alumni and he's certainly one of our most distinguished," she said.
Downie received his bachelor of arts in journalism and political science from OSU in 1964 and earned his master's degree in the same areas of study in 1965. He served as a sports editor, editorial page editor and managing editor for The Lantern.
Downie cited his experience at OSU and on The Lantern as a major factor in his success. "It gave me experience dealing with people like Woody Hayes, the president of the university and the chairman of the Board of Trustees," he said. "It served me well when it came time later in my career to deal with the president of the United States on controversial stories."
Downie amused students with his tales of the legendary Coach Hayes. "If the team lost or tied, he would conduct an interview in the nude. He was an ugly guy so it would clear the locker room out pretty fast," he said.
While Hayes prepared him for tough interviews, one faculty member in particular had a profound impact on Downie's career.
"George Kienzle, the director of the School of Journalism at the time, was a big inspiration to me. Actually, through conversations between him and a senior editor at the Washington Post, it enabled me to become a summer intern at The Post in 1964." Downie worked as a reporter and editor at the Washington Post for the next 44 years.
As Deputy Metropolitan Editor he managed much of the paper's coverage of the Watergate Scandal. He was one of a select few who knew the identity of "Deep Throat," the infamous inside source of the scandal, before it was revealed to the public. Even when it was revealed that Vanity Fair would be given the opportunity to reveal the identity of "Deep Throat" if the Post refused, Downie and his staff maintained confidentiality. It is something he is clearly still very proud of. "If there was ever proof that the Washington Post was ethical, we let someone beat us to revealing 'Deep Throat' to keep a confidentiality agreement."
In 1991, Downie was named executive editor of the Washington Post, a position he held until his retirement in September 2008. During his 17-year tenure, the paper won 25 Pulitzer Prizes, the most under a single editor in newspaper history.
After his retirement, Downie decided to finish a novel he started over five years ago. "The Rules of the Game" is his first attempt at fiction and has opened to overwhelmingly positive reviews. The book is centered around Sarah Paige, a rising star in Washington journalism, who begins investigating an influential lobbyist. The investigation reveals scandal, murder and even puts her own life in jeopardy.
"There were things I wanted to say about how Washington works that I thought would be more interesting done fictionally, and that I might even be able to make my points better in fiction," he said.
His mood changed when the topic of conversation shifted to the present state of journalism. Downie envisions troubling times ahead for the industry. "We will have large cities without newspapers, perhaps as soon as this time next year," he said.
That does not mean that he won't promote the profession, though.
"I urge young people to get into this business," he said. "But you must be very committed, I was hardly ever able to have dinner with my family."
Even after all of his success, Downie still cherishes the opportunity to visit his alma mater. "I love the John Glenn School and I still love The Lantern. It was such an important experience for me."
Former graduate students turn class discussion into book
By Michelle Fehribach
An esteemed Ohio State alumna used the inspiration from a course she took years ago at the university to write a book about a popular communication model.
Susan Opt wrote “Rhetoric in Social Intervention” based on a communication course she took in the 1980s taught by Dr. William Brown. “[Rhetoric in Social Intervention] deals with how people bring about social change through communication interventions,” Opt said. “So it’s a model that says that social change is driven by communication. It’s driven by how we name experience and how we talk about our interpretations of experience. The book combines a model for looking at communication patterns to identify how change is occurring as well as making predictions about social change.”
Opt used her own research findings along with lecture notes and audio recordings of Brown’s class to write the book. Her co-author, OSU alumnus Mark Gring, also took the course taught by Dr. Brown but at a different time. The two were teaching assistants together in the department of communication and kept in touch after leaving the university, often meeting up at the National Communication Association conferences every year. Both had been using the RSI model in their careers before they decided to write a book together.
Opt received her Master's in communication from OSU in 1983, and cited the Rhetoric in Social Intervention course as a large influence in her decision to pursue a Ph.D., which she received in 1987. She is currently the chair of communication at Salem College in North Carolina.
Opt’s encounter with this course has impacted her in other ways professionally. She will spend the 2009-2010 academic year working in the Czech Republic as a Fulbright Scholar grant recipient. She will be teaching a course about rhetoric in social intervention at Masaryk University in Brno.
Lantern archives available online
By Richard Oviatt
Did you write or edit for The Lantern Archives of all issues published from 1959-1972 are now available online. All issues from 1881-1997 will be available when the project to digitally preserve the articles is completed.
Funding for the digitization and online presentation of the articles was provided by the Ohio State administration. Soon after, the University Libraries' Preservation Office/Digital Imaging Division and the Libraries' Digital Initiatives Steering Committee came together to make the project a reality.
Amy McCrory, a digital imaging specialist in the Preservation Office of OSU libraries, has enjoyed the task. "Some of the libraries' staff who worked on this project have lived in Columbus most of their lives, and they really enjoyed seeing pictures of old friends, reading about almost-forgotten events, seeing ads for restaurants and stores they used to frequent, and so on," she said.
Additionally, McCrory says preserving the paper is important for historical reasons. "It's a record of student activity at OSU spanning over a hundred years. It reflects changes in student life, university policy and academic study, as well as in society, manners and customs, social and political attitudes, culture, fashion and the role of students in the community," she said.
If additional funding is available, University Libraries plans to make the remaining years to 2009 and beyond available. McCrory, for one, is excited about the project. "It's going to be a lot of fun for people to look back over old issues of The Lantern and see how things have changed," she said.
Check out the archives here.
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