I hope that everyone is well. I will not be able to attend because reunion weekend is also graduation weekend for my daughter--and I will be giving her the diploma because she is a student in the school at which I'm the dean. A pretty special experience.

I have lived in Rochester, NY; Miami, FL; San Jose, CA, for almost 30 years; Reno, NV, and now Baton Rouge, LA, since graduating from the University of Maryland. I met my wife, the former Karen Feingold, in Miami. We have two children, Matt, a student at the University of Nevada-Reno, and Robin, who will receive the diploma from me.

Some of you won't be surprised, but my career has been in journalism and has been very satisfying. Among many other jobs, I've been executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News and vice president for news of Knight Ridder, at the time the second-largest newspaper company. (Alas, it no longer exists.) Professional organizations also have been a big part of my life. I had been on the fringes of academic life but took the plunge in 2008, becoming dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada-Reno. In 2011, I moved to LSU to become dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication, where I am now.

I hope anyone visiting the bayou will call!