CONWAY, Ark. (April
13, 2016) – Hendrix College will host the inaugural Hendrix Alumni Masters
Class on Saturday, April 16, at 3 p.m., in Mills C in the Mills Center.
The program, hosted
by Talk Business & Politics CEO Roby Brock ’88, will feature Hendrix alumni
working in the broadcasting and publishing worlds, including April Wilson ’96, Patrick
H. Hoy ’86, and Mary Ann Gwinn ’73.
Hendrix Alumni
Masters Class is free and open. RSVP to attend the
Hendrix Alumni Masters Class by emailing rsvp@hendrix.edu.
There will be a
reception immediately following the program in Mills lobby.
ABOUT THE HOST
Roby Brock ’88
Roby Brock is the
CEO of Talk Business & Politics, a 17-year multimedia news organization
reporting on business and politics in Arkansas. Under Brock's direction,
content is driven through many channels such as the Talk Business & Politics TV show, which airs Sunday
mornings at 9:30 a.m. on KATV Channel 7. Brock also moderates
radio programs on NPR affiliates statewide. A subscription magazine, daily
e-newsletters and web reports are also produced with state business profiles,
leading industry developments and current political discussions. Brock is
the 2012 U.S. Small Business Administration Journalist of the Year for
Arkansas. The Washington Post called
Talk Business & Politics “one of the best state-based political blogs,” and
Politico called it “a must-read and
one of the most plugged-in sources of political news in the state.”
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
April Wilson ’96
April Wilson is
an Emmy Award-winning television editor and producer, and a 1996 Hendrix
College graduate with a bachelor’s degree in history that included studies
abroad at Oxford University. In 2006, Wilson was hired by NBC Sports to edit
human-interest stories for the Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. Thus began a
long relationship with NBC that spanned three continents, four Olympic Games,
and multiple network shows. A year
before, she co-edited an award-winning theatrical release documentary about an
inspirational young man who overcame physical disabilities in Ghana, a film
which was narrated by Oprah Winfrey. Wilson began her career in television
working in Dallas for the ad agency Tracy-Locke. Over the next several years, she worked on
commercials, produced movie trailers, created educational children’s television
and eventually moved to New York to work on nationally syndicated shows like Dream Job for ESPN, The Martha Stewart Show, Dr.
Oz, and Dateline NBC. Today, she
is proud to be a content creator for Amazon’s first-ever daily, live show. The
live element and interactive viewing experience make every day an exciting
challenge. Wilson received an Emmy Award for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and
has been a real-time editor for six Tony Awards shows.
Patrick H. Hoy ’86
Hoy has more than
a decade of management consulting experience and previously held several
management positions in service organizations –
including General Manager for Marriott Hotels and
Resorts. He is a practiced professional who specializes in creating dramatic change from within
corporations and has directed strategy implementation assignments in North
America, Europe and the Middle East. He has directed engagements for
manufacturing, processing, insurance, accounting, medical device and
engineering firms – and several media and television companies – as well as
service deployment for postal and hospitality organizations. Six years ago he
was on his way to meet with a Risk Management client in the financial district
of London at 7:30 in the morning when he said to himself “That’s it – I’m tired
of putting on a suit and tie every day and solving problems for corporate
clients – I want to be a TV Presenter!” Today, Hoy is the brand ambassador and TV
presenter for QVC UK’s Quacker Factory show.
Mary Ann Gwinn ’73
Born in 1951 in
Forrest City, Arkansas, Mary Ann Gwinn spent most of her childhood pedaling to
the public library and back, checking out the maximum allowable three books a
week. She has been reading too much ever since. She graduated from Forrest City
High School in 1969 and moved west down I-40 to Hendrix, attending from 1969 to
1973, a tumultuous era that encompassed the civil rights movement and the
anti-Vietnam War protests. Seminars with deep thinkers such as Matt Ellis
helped her get some perspective on the wrenching issues of the day. Garrett
McAinsh’s class on the French Revolution opened her eyes and ears to the thrill
of history. She edited the literary magazine and the annual. She graduated with
a psychology degree, but after a few years as a special education teacher she
took the advice of a fellow Hendrix graduate, a reporter for the late lamented Arkansas Gazette, who suggested that
journalism might be a better fit. She enrolled in a master’s program in
journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she fell in love with
asking nosy questions and getting the answers onto the front page. After
graduating she worked for three years at the Columbia Daily Tribune. Then she moved west, taking a job as a
general assignment reporter at the Seattle
Times in 1983, eventually working as a feature writer and environmental
reporter. In 1989 she and three other Times
reporters covered the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and the four won a Pulitzer Prize
in the National Reporting category in 1990 for their work. In 1998 she took the
job of book editor at the paper. Today she edits the Sunday books page and
writes Lit Life, a column about Seattle books culture that runs each Monday in
the Seattle Times. She is also the
co-host of Well Read, a books and
authors television show produced in Seattle that airs in 86 percent of the
television markets in the U.S (wellread.org). Her book recommendations are
featured in the Bookmarks segment of the show. She is on the board of the
National Book Critics Circle and lives with her family in West Seattle, where
her nightstand groans with half-read books.
About Hendrix College
Hendrix College
is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and
affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884, Hendrix is featured in Colleges That
Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is nationally recognized in numerous
college guides, lists, and rankings for academic quality, community,
innovation, and value. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.