As he prepares to wrap up his tenure as head of the NAB, Gordon Smith will receive the Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award from the Broadcasters Foundation of America.
“The award is bestowed annually on an individual in broadcasting whose work exemplifies innovation, community service, advocacy and entrepreneurship,” the foundation said.
[Read our interview with incoming President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt.]
Smith is president/CEO of the association and a former U.S. senator. He’ll receive the award at the foundation’s breakfast during the NAB Show on Tuesday Oct. 12.
The first person to receive the Mays Award from the foundation was long-time FCC commissioner Jim Quello. Recipients have included Ajit Pai, Bill Clark, Eddie Fritts, Cathy Hughes, Stanley Hubbard, Mel Karmazin, Jeff Smulyan, Rick Buckley, Dick Wiley and Stu Olds.
The award is named after Lowry Mays, founder of the company that became Clear Channel Communications, later called iHeartMedia. Former NAB head Eddie Fritts once said of Mays that the company he built “changed the face of broadcasting and mass communications.”
The breakfast is free for anyone in broadcasting; preregistration is required.
The Broadcasters Foundation distributes aid to broadcasters who have lost their livelihood through a catastrophic event, debilitating disease or unforeseen tragedy.
