Withers named Price Chair of communication arts department

March 08, 2005

WAVERLY, Iowa - A $2 million gift to Wartburg College from veteran Iowa broadcaster Grant Price will endow the Grant L. Price Chair in Communication Arts.

The endowed chair funds the department chair position, said David Ostrander, vice president for institutional advancement. As a result, Dr. William Withers, chair of the department, has been named Grant L. Price Chair in Communication Arts. Withers will remain associate professor of communication arts and assistant director of the Wartburg Institute for Leadership Education.

Withers joined the faculty at the beginning of the 1998-99 academic year. Prior to Wartburg, he taught media, public relations and advertising at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Winona State University in Winona, Minn. He earned a Master of Science degree in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University in Ames and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Drake University in Des Moines.

“Communication arts has grown to the second-largest major at Wartburg because of Price's leadership, vision and dedication,” Withers said. When Price began teaching at Wartburg, the R.J. McElroy Trust gave a major gift to install and equip the college's TV facilities and renovate a former music building into the McElroy Arts Communication Arts Center. During Price's tenure, the college's broadcast journalism program became one of the most respected in the state.

Withers has continued Price's work, overseeing an upgrade of the communication arts department's video facilities. The department is in the midst of a multi-year, multi-phase digital conversion that includes installation of new equipment and digital editing tools.

Withers believes his continued experiences outside academia augment his classroom work. He is a popular corporate and community event speaker and consultant. He and Dr. Patrick Langan, assistant professor of business administration, conducted a statewide study of youth customer service, which led to an ongoing training project endorsed and funded by the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Tourism Region Directors and the Iowa Hospitality Association.

In July 2003, Withers led and wrote curriculum for a daylong planning retreat for Hy-Vee Inc. executives from seven states. The retreat, which took place in West Des Moines, drew chief executive officer Ron Pearson, president Ric Jurgens and 60 other top Hy-Vee officers. Hy-Vee Inc. is one of the nation's largest employee-owned corporations, operating more than 200 retail stores in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota. Withers is currently conducting another study of quality customer service with Hy-Vee.

In addition to the endowed department chair position now occupied by Withers, Price's gift will increase funding for the Fadra F. Price Communication Arts Scholarship; significantly increase the endowment of the Archives of Iowa Broadcasting, housed at Wartburg; and establish of the Grant L. Price Scholarship.

An investment he made several years ago allowed Price, professor emeritus of communication arts, to make the substantial gift on behalf of himself and his late wife, Fadra. Price, will retire at the close of the 2004-05 academic year.