The John P. Blair Endowed Chair in Communication
The John P. Blair Endowed Chair in Communication was established in 2003 through a generous contribution by Mrs. Dorothy Blair and the Blair Foundation. The Blair Chair honors the nationally prominent role the late John Blair played in the radio and television advertising industry.
John Blair, a native of Chicago, worked in newspaper advertising sales and as an agency executive following his graduation from UW-Madison. With money borrowed from his life insurance policy, he founded the partnership that in 1935 would become known as John Blair & Company.
He was an early and influential promoter of radio advertising. In 1948, after greatly expanding his radio station sales representative business, he established the industry’s first agency of its kind devoted to selling spot television advertising. With offices in most major American cities, John Blair & Company became the representative for 120 TV stations and 196 radio stations. The company also owned printing operations and the largest direct mail business in the country. John Blair passed away in 1983.
John and Dorothy Blair were early supporters of UW-Green Bay with an interest in the environment. They received the Chancellor’s Award of Merit in 1972. Dorothy passed away in 2008.
The Blair gift reflects their affection for UW-Green Bay and the Green Bay area, the quality of UW-Green Bay’s undergraduate programs in communications, and the region’s strength as a communication and media market.
2012 - Phillip Clampitt
Degrees: B.A., Oklahoma
M.S., Southwest Texas State
Ph.D., Kansas
Chair of the Communication,
Professor - PR, Organizational Communication, Electronic Media
2005 - Timothy Meyer
Degrees: B.A., UW-Madison
M.A., Ohio University
Ph.D., Ohio University
Chair of Information and Computing Science