从泰迪熊到电视

朱莉娅·哈尔普林·杰克逊著

鲍勃·洛克, Professor Emeritus of Journalism and Mass Communications.

鲍勃·洛克的变革之旅

As a child, 鲍勃·洛克 would often prop up a blackboard in the basement of 他的 family's South Side, Chicago, home to teach to an audience of teddy bears before heading upstairs 看沃尔特·克朗凯特的晚间lol菠菜网正规平台. 这一点也不奇怪 than 50 years later the emeritus professor of journalism and mass communications at San José State continues to facilitate conversations about the media, diversity and 包容和批判性lol菠菜网正规平台消费. 

Rucker inherited 他的 passion for the news from 他的 parents, who placed a high value 关注和理解lol菠菜网正规平台.

My fondest memory of San José State will always be the audience from around the world who represent every culture in t他的 world—their families, their traditions, their values, their cultures, their religious beliefs, all those wonderful things that inspire 我每天都要起床.                   鲍勃·洛克

“My mother and father never finished high school, but they were very big on reading the newspaper and watching the news,” Rucker recalls. 我妈妈总是强调 importance of knowing what’s going on in the world because it can be applied to whatever 你的工作.”

T他的 perspective came in handy years later when Rucker joined 他的 friend’s radio show at Northern Illinois University to read the news at 6 a.m. 每个星期天. 一个lol菠菜网正规平台 professor heard Rucker’s voice on the radio and invited him to contribute to the campus 电视lol菠菜网正规平台节目.

That single gesture redirected Rucker’s career, which included stints as the CNN National Correspondent in San Francisco, a medical reporter for Group W Westinghouse in Philadelphia, and a national news TV producer and reporter for Newsweek Broadcasting in New York 城市. In 1979, Rucker was a weekend news anchor for KYW-TV in the Delaware Valley, where he covered the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and met and interviewed Pope Saint John Paul II during 他的 first papal visit to the United States. 两个经验 reinforced 他的 belief in the power of news to educate, inform, protect and inspire.

When he suffered a heart attack at age 29, 他的 career took an unexpected yet promising turn, which led him to pursue a master's degree in journalism and eventually teaching. It did not take long for him to fall in love with the profession. 对拉克来说，是教书 journalism means recognizing potential, much in the way 他的 own professor had d一个 几年前对他来说. 

In 1990, Rucker felt the pull to go west and accepted a professorship at 菠菜网lol正规平台. 在 他在白宫工作了30年 lol菠菜网正规平台与大众传播学院, Rucker watched the Valley of Heart’s Delight transform into 硅谷, a hub of innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.

As the news landscape shifted from print media to broadcast television and radio, and now social media and online news, Rucker has stressed the importance of truth-telling, 不管媒介是什么. He has mentored hundreds of aspiring 记者s and broadcasters, many of whom he remains in touch with to t他的 day.

Through 他的 coordination of the Hearst Award, given annually to outstanding media professionals in journalism, public relations, advertising and mass communications, Rucker has brought leaders such as former White House correspondent Jim Acosta and Dr. 安东尼·福奇(Anthony Fauci)是美国农业部的主任.S. 国家过敏和传染病研究所 疾病，在校园和网上发言.

菠菜网lol正规平台's lol菠菜网正规平台与大众传播学院 presented Dr. 安东尼·福奇 the William Randolph Hearst Award for excellence in mass communication on Nov. 17, 2020.

Rucker’s accomplishments have not g一个 unnoticed. 2021年2月19日，加州 Assemblymember Ash Kalra knocked on Rucker’s door to deliver an official proclamation recognizing 他的 outstanding career in public service as a professor and broadcast 记者. 

“鲍勃·洛克 was an easy choice for our Legacy honoree for t他的 year's African American History Month Celebration,” says Kalra, who recognized Rucker alongside five other recipients in a special online ceremony celebrating African American History Month.

“He is not only an outstanding teacher but a leader in our community, who has dedicated 他的 life to uplifting the voices of those marginalized in our community and sharing 他们的故事. Through 他的 journalism classes at 菠菜网lol正规平台, he has prepared the next generation of students to tackle hard-hitting news through a critical and compassionate lens. 我很荣幸认识鲍勃." 

Moved as he is by the recognition, Rucker says that the highlight of 他的 career are 他的学生. As much as he has transformed their careers, they have, in turn, transformed 他的.

“My fondest memory of San José State will always be the audience from around the world,” 他说. “I’m talking about people who have enrolled at 菠菜网lol正规平台 over the last 30 years and represented every culture in t他的 world—their families, their traditions, their values, their cultures, their religious beliefs, all those wonderful things that inspire 我每天都要起床.”