Heather Mangan

The Department of Journalism and Mass Communications honored alumni and students for their work in journalism and mass communications at the Journalism 2004 Spring Banquet.

The banquet was held April 20th at the Brookings Inn. Over 40 students in advertising, agricultural journalism, broadcasting and news editorial received scholarships for the 2004-2005 school year from various donors. Students were also recognized for individual awards. Inductees into the Kappa Tau Alpha and Alpha Delta Sigma fraternities were also announced.

Six SDSU journalism graduates were acknowledged with the Distinguished Alumni award. The award is based on their outstanding contribution in the journalism field.

“Theses are all graduates in journalism who have excelled in their field,” said Dr. Mary Peterson Arnold, head of the Journalism and Mass Communications department, during her introductions of the recipients.

This year’s Distinguished Alumni are Dennis Lundgren, Terry Harris, John Papendick, Curt Wagner, Sue Salter, and Brenda Kleinjan.

Lundgren graduated in 1969 with a degree in print management. He went on to receive his master’s in printing management at Fort Benning, Ga. He worked at the Lundgren Publishing Company on the Elkton Record, White Leader, and the Toronto Herald. In 1977 he received a job at the SDSU Printing Laboratory. He was appointed manager a year later and has continued to work there since.

Harris started his broadcasting career working at KESD-FM. After his graduation in 1977, he worked for KELO-TV. He later received a master’s degree from SDSU in 1986. In 1999 he began working at his current position as radio director for South Dakota Public Broadcasting in Vermillion.

Papendick, a 1984 graduate, has worked in journalism for over 25 years. He started working at newspapers through the Schawns family in Bridgewater and Salem. He then was the sports editor at the Mitchell Daily Republic. He currently is the managing news-sports editor at the Aberdeen American News, where he has worked for the last 18 years.

Wagner graduated from SDSU in 1984 with a journalism/advertising degree. In 1986 he began working at the News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash. He moved to St. Louis and in 2002 was appointed to his position as sales training and development manager at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Salter graduated from SDSU in 1989 and then earned a master’s in public administration from the University of South Dakota in 1991. She has worked in New Brighton, Minn. as a city manager assistant, as a city manager in Janesville, Minn., and as an economic development director in Robstown, Texas. In 2002 she became the General Manager and CEO of the Sioux Empire Fair Association. In 2003, she quit her job to spend more time with her family. Soon after, Gov. Mike Rounds appointed her to the South Dakota State Fair Commission on a limited basis.

Kleinjan graduated from SDSU in 1994. In 2000, she was hired as the director of communications/editor of the South Dakota Rural Electric Association in Pierre. In that position, she manages publication of the “Cooperative Connections,” the periodical for co-op members. In addition, she publishes two weekly newsletters and organizes the association’s youth education programs.