When David Letterman departed Ball State University on Sept. 7, 2007, he left more than a new building with his name on it.
The university's most prominent alumnus gave a seven-figure sum, not being released by the university, as an unrestricted gift.
The result is the Letterman Lecture Series, a new, annual group of speakers and workshops created to bring top professionals in the communication fields to Ball State.
"It's important to bring media authorities to campus," President Jo Ann Gora said. "The disciplines and professions are changing dramatically. [The series'] purpose will be used as an opportunity to bring people in who are the vanguard of change."
According to a Dec. 1 Ball State press release, newsman Ted Koppel and Tom Kelley, author of "The Art of Innovation", are the initial headliners for the series debuting Spring Semester.
The series kicks off Feb. 24 with Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Elizabeth Ware Packard, a professor and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, respectively.
Workshop leaders include Dale Herigstad, internationally recognized thought leader on the future of media consumption and a leading researcher for the technology used in Microsoft Surface. Brian Storm, former director of multimedia at MSNBC.com and current president of MediaStorm, also is scheduled to lead a workshop, according to the press release.
Full schedules have yet to be planned and details will be announced closer to each date, according to the press release.
Gora said having important names in media fields coming to speak was important for Letterman to lend his name to the program.
"We asked [Letterman] to lend his name to the series," Gora said. "He was pleased and said he would be happy to lend his name. It would really enhance the experience."
Roger Lavery, Dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media said the college has had lists of people they've been wanting to invite and this new series gave them a good reason to do so.
Gora told Lavery to gather professors within his college to decide how best to spend the money the "Late Show" host left behind, he said. Idea's for the endowed fund included additional scholarships and paying for graduate student travel expenses, Lavery said, but funding the series made the most sense.
He said convincing the professionals to come to Ball State was difficult.
"We had to keep fighting their availability," Lavery said. "We also had to try to get them excited to speak here. We were able to convince them that this series would be inspirational to students and could change how people view their careers. It's interesting what happens when powerful people donate their time and energy to cause."
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