Overview
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Lew Klein Media Awards
Notable Alumni
- 2000s
- 1990s
- 1980s
- 1970s
- 1960s
- 1950s

Alumni

Notable Alumni - 1980s

Photo of Bill Vargus Bill "Billy V." Vargus, '80, is the award-winning sports anchor at Fox 29-TV. Immediately after graduating from Temple, he became a news anchor on radio station WHAT. He also worked at WHYY, WDAS, and Q102. His television career began as a writer for KYW-TV and after eight months, he landed his first on-air TV job as sports anchor for WHYY's Delaware News. Covering sports became a 24/7 job in 1989 when he landed a position doing weekends at WCAU-TV, while continuing to work weekdays at WHYY. He relocated with his wife, Sue Serio, after she accepted a job in Buffalo, New York, where he became the main sports anchor at the same station where she worked. They returned to Philadelphia in 1997, when Billy V. accepted the weekend sports anchor position at Fox 29 and Sue became the weather anchor. Billy V. has remained at Fox 29 for eleven years, recently taking over as the station's main sports anchor. Temple University Gallery of Success Honoree 2008.

Barry Levine, '81, is Executive Editor of The National Enquirer, where he directs coverage of news and entertainment stories the world over. Under his leadership, the Enquirer broke the news of presidential candidate John Edwards' affair, scooping mainstream media. Levine previously was managing editor of Fox's "A Current Affair." He also worked for "Inside Edition/American Journal," and "Extra." Levine began his career in tabloid reporting as a reporter and then as Hollywood bureau chief for Star magazine. He has also worked for the Associated Press, Reuters wire service, the Baltimore News-American, and the Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard.

Photo of Denise Rolfe Denise R. Rolfe, '81, is an Emmy award-winning media marketing professional. Rolfe began her career in local cable and broadcast television station promotion, creative services, production and on-air, including sports reporting. She is an active member of Gerson Lehrman Group Councils, an online business consulting platform. She has led the affiliate relations and marketing teams for nationally-syndicated Warner Bros. television programs including The People's Court with Ed Koch and the original Rosie O'Donnell Show. She also has held multiple executive positions in businesses with broadcast and satellite television operations, wireless broadband product development, strategic marketing for emerging technology and enterprise solutions and high-level content licensing/acquisition and distribution. She's a competitive amateur golfer and an owner/breeder of thoroughbred race horses.

Photo of Tom Conti Tom Conti, '83, is President of G2 Interactive, the digital marketing arm of Grey Global Group, which has 80 offices in 60 countries. He came to G2 after serving as President of The Star Group. He previously held senior management positions at MRM/McCann WorldGroup, Earle Palmer Brown and Ketchum Communications. He has created integrated communications programs for many major brands and companies including the DuPont Company, Acura and Comcast.

Photo of Doug Gaston Doug Gaston, '83, is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Comcast Cable, the country's leading entertainment and communications company. He oversees a team of legal advisors who support the company’s operating departments and serves as principal legal counsel to senior management. After graduation from SCT, Gaston worked at Suburban Cable Television in Delaware County, Pa., where he was responsible for local origination, access programming and advertising production. He held a similar position for Harron Cable in Malvern prior to joining WPHL-TV in Philadelphia as a producer/director. He began his legal career as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Jan E. Dubois, United States District Court. Gaston is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association, the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group. Lew Klein Award Winner 2008.

Photo of Amy Lemisch Amy Lemisch, '83, is executive director of the California Film Commission, a role she was appointed to by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2004. Lemisch has more than two decades of experience in the entertainment and film industry. She formerly served for ten years as a producer and production executive for Parkway Productions at Sony Studios and Universal Studios. Her career production credits include films such as The Preacher’s Wife, Riding in Cars with Boys, A League of Their Own, and Awakenings.

Photo of Pete Shellem Pete Shellem, '83, is a 21-year veteran reporter with the Harrisburg Patriot-News. His series of investigative journalism pieces — which began in 1998 — helped free four people from jail who were wrongly convicted of homicide. He was featured in an American Journalism Review article title "The Sleuth," which noted that it was his reporting skills that landed former Pennsylvania Attorney General Ernie Preate behind bars. Shellem also contributed a chapter on wrongful convictions in the Crime Classification Manual, a law enforcement reference manual.

Photo of Suzanne Smith Suzanne Smith, '83, is director for CBS Sports coverage for The NFL On CBS. She also is director of coverage of college basketball, including the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. The three-time Emmy Award-winner also received a Directors Guild of America Award in 1989. Smith worked on the 1992, 1994 and 1996 Olympic Winter Games. She served as replay director of CBS coverage of Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XXXVIII. For the network's coverage of Super Bowl XLI, Smith produced the "Baghdad Bowl" segment for The Super Bowl Today. She is the coordinating producer for CBS Sports' coverage of skiing, mountain biking and the American Le Mans Series. Smith serves on the boards of the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Plancher Orthopedic Foundation. Lew Klein Award Winner 2008.

Photo of Marc Rayfield Marc Rayfield, '85, is the senior vice president and market manager of the CBS radio stations in the Philadelphia market including; KYW Newsradio, 1210 The Big Talker, 94 WYSP, 98.1 WOGL and 610 WIP Sportsradio where he also serves as general manager. Rayfield started out at WIP in 1990, and in 1992 became the sales manager at KYW Newsradio. He worked his way up to general sales manager and station manager before being promoted to vice president of sales for all five CBS Philadelphia radio stations, a position he held until he returned to CBS-owned WIP as vice president and general manager in 2003. He has been credited with the station's financial and operational turnaround, and today WIP is one of the most visible and highly successful sports radio stations in the nation. Rayfield was inducted into the School’s Hall of Fame in October of 2007. Lew Klein Award Winner 2007.

Steve Capus, '86, is President of NBC News. He is the No. 1 News Division executive and is responsible for all aspects of America's highest-rated and most-watched network news division, as well as MSNBC and NBC News Channel. His numerous honors include four Emmy Awards, seven Edward R. Murrow Awards, one Alfred I. duPont and six National Headliner Awards. In 2007, he earned the Ida B. Wells Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, which is presented annually to a media executive who has demonstrated a commitment to diversifying the nation's newsrooms and news coverage. He had previously served as senior vice president of NBC News and as executive producer of NBC Nightly News. He was the executive producer for much of NBC News' coverage of the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the war in Iraq and the "Decision 2002-2004" political coverage.

Photo of Shirley Powell Shirley Powell, '88, is senior vice president of corporate communications for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. In this capacity, Powell oversees the public relations groups supporting the CNN News Group, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, truTV, Boomerang and GameTap, as well as Turner Sports. In addition, Powell heads advertising sales and cable sales media relations; government affairs, corporate contributions and community relations; and all internal communications. She previously served as senior vice president of media relations for NBC Entertainment and as vice president of media relations for the Disney Channel and Toon Disney. Lew Klein Award Winner 2005.