Indiana Public Broadcasting names inaugural Hall of Fame inductee class
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Four notable names in local broadcasting are being recognized this week as inductees of Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations’ first Hall of Fame class.
The inductees include Perry Metz, Joe Misiewics, Roger Rhodes and Lloyd Wright.
“We are so pleased to be honoring four very special individuals in this way,” IPBS Board President Nichole Carie said in a new release. “They epitomize excellence in our industry and will forever have the distinction of being members of the first class inducted into the IPBS Hall of Fame.”
IPBS announced its inaugural inductee class on Monday. The Hall of Fame was established this year to recognize broadcasters with Hoosier ties who have contributed to the advancement of public media locally or on a national or global scale.
To be eligible, nominees must have ties to both Indiana and the industry for at least four years. IPBS plans to award the honor annually.
“These inductees are all accomplished and have left an enduring legacy of dedication that others strive to emulate,” Carie said.
2023 Hall of Fame inductees are:
- Perry Metz served as executive director of Indiana University Radio and Television Services from 2003 to 2019 and was also general manager of WFIU/WTIU which expanded greatly under his leadership, earning 65 honors in 2019 alone. Metz was also resident of IPBS for nearly a decade and is a former vice president of Bloomington’s redevelopment commission, a former president of the city’s traffic commission and former president of Monroe County’s convention and visitor’s bureau. He was awarded IU’s Bicentennial Medal in 2019.
- Joe Misiewicz joined Ball State University as a chair and professor in the university’s Department of Telecommunications in 1990 and retired with emeritus status in 2012. Misiewicz was general manager of WIPB-TV and WBST-FM in Muncie, and a past board president of IPBS. He was also CEO of the Indiana Broadcasters Association, and honored with the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.
- Roger Rhodes spend 28-years in public media, serving as president and general manager of WFWA-TV, today PBS Fort Wayne, from 1990 to 2007. He served as executive director of IPBS from 2007 to 2018. Among his many accomplishments, Rhodes was a connector and helped establish the statewide infrastructure to broadcast popular speeches, such as the governor’s annual State of the State of the State address. He was also a driving force in Merrillville’s WLPR-FM becoming IPBS’ 17th member station and the creation of the IPBS Annual Conference.
- Lloyd Wright retired as President and CEO of WFYI Public Media in Indianapolis in 2019 after a career of more than 40 years in public media. WFYI’s annual operating budget grew by five times to $11 million under his leadership, and the Indianapolis station relocated to a state-of-the-art broadcast facility under his tenure. Wright has been recognized with multiple Emmy Awards and has received the governor’s highest honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash, twice. He was inducted into the Indiana Broadcasters Association Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2013.
The 2023 class will be recognized on August 2 in Carmel during the IPBS Annual Conference. IPBS is a not-for-profit association of 17 public television and radio stations with locations in Bloomington, Elkhart, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Merrillville, Muncie, South Bend, Vincennes and West Lafayette.