By Larry B. Dendy
Graduating seniors will step into the future with advice from one the nation’s most famous entrepreneurs when Atlanta cable pioneer R.E. (Ted) Turner speaks at spring semester commencement May 8.
Turner--vice chairman of Time Warner Inc., and the genius behind CNN, TBS and other major cable television operations--will speak at the 197th ceremony for undergraduates at 9:30 a.m. in Sanford Stadium and will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. In case of rain, the ceremony will be held in Stegeman Coliseum in two sessions, at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.
Commencement for students receiving graduate degrees will be at 2:30 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum. The speaker will be announced later.
The ceremonies are for students who complete degree requirements at the end of spring semester. Officials currently estimate that about 4,100 students will be eligible to receive bachelor’s and professional degrees in the undergraduate ceremony. A final number won’t be available until spring semester final exams are over just prior to commencement.
This will be the second of two commencements UGA is holding in the current academic year. A ceremony was held in December for students who completed degree requirements at the end of summer quarter 1998 and fall semester 1998.
UGA decided to hold two commencements each academic year when the semester system was implemented last fall. Previously, under the quarter system, the university held one commencement ceremony in June for all students who had completed degree requirements during the past academic year.
Victor Wilson, assistant to President Michael F. Adams and chair of the commencement committee, notes that the May ceremony will put UGA graduates on equal footing with job-seeking graduates at many other schools.
“One of the advantages of the semester calendar is that students enter the job market in May instead of June,” Wilson says. “We’re pleased that our students will no longer be getting a late start on job searches.”
Turner, who owns the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers, will be the 74th recipient of the honorary doctor of laws degree, the highest recognition UGA bestows after the earned doctorate. The degree recognizes exemplary and broad contributions to society and a record of lasting significance in such areas as scholarship, the creative arts, research, public service or business and industry.
Turner became vice chairman of Time Warner when his flagship company, Turner Broadcasting System, merged in 1996 with Time Warner, the world’s leading media company, with interests in cable networks, publishing, entertainment and cable. Turner is also on the Time Warner board of directors.
Turner oversees the cable networks division, which includes the domestic and international arms of the Cable News Network, the Cartoon Network, Headline News, TBS Superstation, Turner Classic Movies, Turner Network Television and Home Box Office.
After forming Turner Broadcasting System from a family advertising company, Turner began building his cable business by buying an independent Atlanta television station in 1970. Six years later, he bought the Atlanta Braves and originated the “super-station” concept by using satellites to transmit the station’s signal (and Braves games) nationwide.
He started CNN, the world’s first 24-hour all-news television network, in 1980, followed by Headline News in 1982 and CNN International in 1985.
TBS expanded into the entertainment field by acquiring MGM film and television properties for TNT, and the library and production facilities of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons for the Cartoon Network. A 1994 merger with independent motion picture producer New Line Cinema provided a film library for Turner Classic Movies.
 Other TBS innovations include CNNRadio and CNN Airport Network; CNNfn, which broadcasts financial and consumer news; CNN en Espanol, which broadcasts Spanish-language news; and CNN/SI, a 24-hour sports network formed with Sports Illustrated magazine.
TBS also includes Turner Original Productions, Turner Sports and World Championship Wrestling.
Turner is on the board of directors of the National Cable Television Association, the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Change and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Known for his support of philanthropic and environmental causes, he is president of the Turner Foundation, a private grant-making organization that focuses on population and the
environment.
Turner made international headlines when he pledged $1 billion to the United Nations. He is chairman of the United Nations Foundation, which he founded to support UN work, and is a director of the Business Council for the United Nations. He was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1991.
|
|
