Communication Hall of Fame
Established by the College's Board of Visitors in 1998, the Communication Hall of Fame was created to honor, preserve and perpetuate the names and accomplishments of distinguished individuals who have brought lasting fame to the state of Alabama.
The College maintains permanent archives for the collection of memorabilia related to the lives and careers of individuals inducted into the Communication Hall of Fame.
2011 Inductees
Joseph E. “Joe” Gibbs (1949–)
Joseph E. Gibbs has had a long and successful career as an entrepreneur in the cable television business,
but his greatest claim to fame is surely as the developer of The Golf Channel, the nation’s first 24/7 single-sport channel.Born in 1949 in Oneonta, Alabama, after high school Gibbs served for four years in the U.S. Navy as a crewman navigator. After military service, Gibbs attended The University of Alabama, graduating Cum Laude in 1975. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Gibbs is married to Tina Ann Gibbs and has a son, 29, a daughter, 20, and two step-daughters, 17 and 14.
Charles A. "Chuck" Gordon (1947–)
When Charles A. “Chuck” Gordon visited Hollywood,
California, at the age of 11, he was so
enthralled he vowed to return and make a place for
himself there.
After graduating from The University of Alabama
in 1970 with a degree in history, he did just that.
For a small town boy, born in Belzoni, Mississippi, on May 13, 1947, the youngest of three brothers and the son of a furniture store owner, that was a pretty big dream, but his parents always encouraged him in his ambitions.
James E. "Jim" Jacobson (1934–)
For the last 19 years of his hugely successful 39-year career in Alabama journalism, Jim Jacobson served as editor of The Birmingham News, Alabama’s largest newspaper. Under his leadership the News editorial page won the Pulitzer Prize for its series on the need for tax reform in Alabama.
Jacobson, a native of Mobile, Alabama, was born on September 19, 1934, and attended Murphy High School.
After four years in the United States Air Force, 1952-1956, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant, Jacobson enrolled at The University of Alabama, where he earned a bachelor’s degree, with membership in Phi Beta Kappa, in 1958, and then, in
1959, a master’s degree.
Ruth Waldrop (1911-2010)
Ruth Waldrop lived an extraordinarily long, rich life and one filled with amazing accomplishments.
Waldrop was a librarian, library educator, author of children’s books, bibliographer and, always, a passionate
advocate for library studies and children’s education.
Born in the town of May, Texas, Ruth Wiggins Waldrop was educated at what is now The University
of West Alabama in Livingston, Alabama, and The University of Alabama.