NEWS

Photo note: To download a photo of Kyser, see bottom of release.

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication aims to establish a $500,000 endowment for the Kyser Distinguished Visiting Professorship.

Named for distinguished alumnus James King Kern "Kay" Kyser, star of radio, television and movies, the Kyser professorship will bring prominent media professionals to the school to teach classes, meet with students and faculty members, and discuss current problems and issues. The visiting professors may stay a few days or a few weeks, as their schedules permit.

"This offers our students the unique opportunity of learning from the men and women who today hold the positions they aspire to tomorrow," said Dr. Richard Cole, school dean. "It will be a great experience."

Kyser’s widow, Georgia Kyser, has pledged a significant amount of her own money to the Kyser Distinguished Visiting Professorship.

"In our constantly changing, very complex world," Georgia Kyser said, "it is more important than ever for students to learn from active journalists with world views, representing those whose words we read in newspapers and periodicals, those we hear presenting news on public radio, as well as those familiar faces we see and hear on television — such as Tom Brokaw, Christiane Amanpour and Ed Bradley of ‘60 Minutes.’

"If students of journalism and mass communication are given the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with those who represent the best in their fields, then the students may learn firsthand more about the pitfalls and responsibilities that will be theirs in the future," she said. "It is more urgent than ever for our citizens to have information that is accurate and reliable. The future of democracy depends on an informed citizenry."

Kay Kyser was one of the most successful entertainers of his time. His weekly top 10 radio show on NBC, "The Kollege of Musical Knowledge," drew as many as 20 millions listeners and earned him a remarkable $1 million in 1940, Time magazine reported when he died in 1985. He had one of the biggest of the big bands, with three of the top 10 records in 1942, according to The New York Times. The only other big band leader to have three that year was Glenn Miller. Kyser starred in seven movies, opposite such stars as Lucille Ball, John Barrymore and Jane Wyman.

One of the first Hollywood stars to entertain U.S. servicemen in World War II, Kyser performed shows for as many as 30,000 servicemen at a time, often gathered on a hillside. His experiences in hospitals and combat zones in the Pacific changed his life.

"I saw what genuine appreciation is," he told The Charlotte Observer in a rare 1983 interview. "These kids would come up to me afterward with tears in their eyes. They’d thank me. Imagine, them thanking me when here they were over there dodging bombs and bullets for us. And sometimes not dodging them. If that doesn’t get to you, you’re made of concrete."

The old performances for money had lost their lure. He decided to retire from show business.

Although contractual agreements delayed his full retirement until 1950, Kyser devoted more and more of his time to public service. He raised $1 million in one evening in Hollywood putting on a circus of the stars to help build a wing on St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. He was a key part of the success of the Good Health Campaign in North Carolina that brought better medical care to residents.

Moving his young family to Chapel Hill, he was instrumental in bringing educational television to the University of North Carolina, launching WUNC-TV, which was only the 10th educational channel in the nation. He used his old contacts at NBC to get equipment and technical help, and brought in a crew of professionals from Hollywood. He then worked on the N. C. State Highway Safety campaign. The last years of his life were devoted to the First Church of Christ Science -- as a lecturer, teacher and, for five years, head of film and broadcasting; for one year, he held the honorary position of president of the worldwide church.

The Kyser Distinguished Visiting Professorship is being named for this man who served his alma mater, his state, his church and his country for so long and so well, for a key to his success in all his endeavors was the ability to communicate, Cole said.

Contributions to the professorship may be sent to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 3365, Carroll Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365. Or call (919) 962-1204.

Gifts to the Kyser professorship count toward the university’s Carolina First fund-raising campaign, the goal of which will be formally announced Oct. 11. Gifts to the campaign support faculty, students, programs and building projects and help position Carolina as the nation’s leading public university.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/alum/kyser_kay.jpg

School of Journalism and Mass Communication contact: Zach Hoskins, (919) 966-3323

News Services contact: Mike McFarland, (919) 962-8593