LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication to Induct Four Celebrated Communicators to Hall of Fame at 2020 Gala

Update March 17, 2020: In accordance with the latest guidelines by LSU and the CDC related to the COVID-19 outbreak, the 46th annual Hall of Fame Gala has been postponed. The event will be rescheduled for a later date in the fall to honor our four celebrated inductees, Donna Britt, George Lockwood, Jim Michie and Herb Vincent.

Feb. 5, 2020

BATON ROUGE – LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication will honor the accomplishments of four distinguished mass communication professionals as they are inducted into the Manship School Hall of Fame at its annual gala on March 30, 2020. In its 46th year, the Manship School Hall of Fame gala honors alumni and supporters who have achieved stellar accomplishments in their careers. From Pulitzer Prize winners to political analysts to writers to producers, the Hall of Fame includes some of the most accomplished journalists and communication experts of our time.

Joining the current 130 members of the Manship School Hall of Fame are Donna Britt, retired broadcaster for WAFB-TV; George Lockwood, former Manship School faculty member; Jim Michie, former Director of News Media Services for U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and Herb Vincent, Associate Commissioner for Communications for the Southeastern Conference.

Donna Britt graduated from LSU in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. At WAFB-TV, she became a beloved journalist and anchor reporting on countless major news events across Louisiana over the next three decades. Britt served on the LSU Student Media Board for several years helping to select student editors and station managers. She also mentored Manship School students as interns at WAFB and through the LSU International Hospitality Foundation’s Friendship Host Program. Britt has been honored with numerous awards for her work in journalism and media, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, as well as a Suncoast Regional EMMY awards for human interest and best newscast.

The late George Lockwood, a former beloved Manship School faculty member, was a longtime editor at The Milwaukee Journal. He oversaw its Pulitzer Prize-winning series on pollution, which drove changes in industrial waste regulation policy in Wisconsin. Lockwood then served as executive editor of the St. Joseph (Missouri) News-Press. After more than 40 years in the newspaper business, Lockwood joined the Manship School as the Fred Jones Greer, Jr. Chair in Media Business and Ethics. During his time as Greer Chair, Lockwood organized the first John Breaux Symposium, “The Press at the Turn of the Century.”

Jim Michie earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from LSU in 1962. He spent his career as a broadcast journalist at WDSU-TV and WTOP-TV and as a mass communication and public affairs professional whose last major stop before retirement was as director of news media services for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Michie also worked for U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Office of the Director of the CIA, Rowan & Blewitt Incorporated and the committee staffs of U.S Senator Edward M. Kennedy, U.S. Congressman Ted Weiss and U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III. His experience in the nation’s capital spanned more than three decades, serving in positions as manager of internal and external communications, chief investigator for Congressional committees and crisis communication consultant. His reporting has been recognized with awards and honors. His mini-documentary series on highway transportation hazards at WTOP-TV won an Emmy.

Herb Vincent, who graduated from LSU in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, is responsible for all communications, public relations, branding and social media strategies for the Southeastern Conference. Vincent serves as the associate commissioner for communications for the SEC and is the 2019-2020 president of College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Prior to his work with the SEC, Vincent was senior associate athletics director at LSU from 2002-2013 and simultaneously served as associate vice chancellor for communications and university relations for LSU from 2009-2013. Previously he was sports information director at LSU from 1988-2000. His lifelong passion for sports writing and accomplishments in the field led CoSIDA to honor him as the recipient of the Arch Ward Award in 2019, the most prestigious recognition given by the organization. He is author of “LSU Football Vault: The History of the Fighting Tigers” (Whitman Publishing, 2008). The LSU Alumni Association inducted Vincent into its Hall of Distinction in 2015.

Event: 46th Annual Manship School Hall of Fame Gala
Date: Monday, March 30, 2020
Time: Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. | Dinner at 7 p.m.
Location: The Heidelberg Room at The Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center – 201 Lafayette Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801
Tickets: To purchase tickets, visit www.lsufoundation.org/manshiphofgala.

Donna Britt

George Lockwood

Jim Michie

Herb Vincent

About the Hall of Fame

Created in 1975, the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication Hall of Fame honors alumni, faculty and friends whose distinguished careers have contributed to or reflect credit on the various academic programs in the School.
All Hall of Fame inductees have demonstrated outstanding professional or public service leadership, a tangible connection to the Manship School of Mass Communication, either as an alum or a strong supporter of the school and its mission, and a personal reputation for outstanding character and citizenship. See the full list of honorees.

For more information, contact masscomm@lsu.edu.

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LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: master of mass communication, Ph.D. in media and public affairs, certificate of strategic communication, and dual MMC/law degree. Its public relations students were recently ranked the #1 team in the nation, and its digital advertising and student media teams frequently earn national recognition.