Author: Beth Bobbitt

Dr. Alan Albarran

2022 Educator of the Year

(Published August 2022)

The work of TAB’s Educator of the Year has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to furthering the broadcast industry through higher education, research and training in Texas and around the globe.

Alan Albarran

Dr. Alan B. Albarran is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Media Arts at the University of North Texas in Denton. 

Alan had the privilege of serving three generations of Texas students in his career at three different universities.

His resume reads like a “who’s who” of Texas universities with outstanding broadcast programs.

He moved to Texas in 1979 to join the faculty at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and manage the school’s station – KSHU-FM.

In 1987, he and his family moved to Columbus, Ohio where Alan served first as a Teaching/Research Assistant and then as full-time instructor at THE Ohio State University.

After graduating with his Ph. D in 1990, the Albarran family moved back to Texas and Alan took an Assistant Professor position at Southern Methodist University.

At SMU, Alan established himself as one of the top researchers on media management and economics.

Over the next 10 years, he would move through the ranks to become a Full Professor and Associate Dean, as well as integrating himself within the broadcast industry in DFW.

“When Alan was at SMU, I was Market Manager for Susquehanna Radio Dallas and he regularly asked me to speak to his students. ” said Texas Radio Hall of Fame Broadcaster Dan Halyburton.

“It turned out we had an earlier connection as competitors in ASHLAND Kentucky. It was 1974 He was a DJ At WAMX and I was a DJ and Program Director at WTCR. My on-air name was ‘Dan the Music Man’. And YES, I am still ‘Music Man’ when Alan calls me on the phone.”

In 2000, Alan joined UNT as Professor and Chair of the Department of Radio, Television and Film.  

He established the unit’s first professional advisory board, made up of industry professionals.

In 2007, he received grants totaling $1.5 million to establish the Center for Spanish Language Media, the first such entity in Texas devoted to research in this area.

He is former president of the Broadcast Education Association and was an active member of the Texas Association of Broadcast Educators for many years, serving as president of TABE in the 1990s.

Alan retired in 2018 – after teaching many generations of students who continue to serve the broadcast industry at all levels in Texas and around the world.  
 
A former Fulbright Scholar, he continues to research and write in retirement.

He and his wife Beverly are the parents of two daughters and grandparents of five grandchildren – who he affectionally has named “The Fab Five.”

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Mac Aipperspach

2019 Educator of the Year

(Published August 2019)

TAB’s Educator of the Year has worked in the broadcast industry in one form or another since the early 1970s.

Mac Aipperspach began his career at the campus radio station at John Brown University (JBU) in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Mac Aipperspach

After graduation he moved to Texas and held positions at KBUD Athens, KPAN Hereford (where he worked for Texas Broadcast Pioneer Clint Formby) and KGNC Amarillo.

While in graduate school at the University of North Texas, Aipperspach taught a radio/television writing courses and served as Assistant Station Manager of the campus station KNTU-FM.

After completing his Master’s degree in RTF, he joined the staff at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi – where he works to this day.

The radio/television program was only a year old when he was hired.

Over the course of the next 38 years, the program has grown from a converted classroom to a specially designed television studio with auxiliary rooms for audio and video editing. 

A specifically designed radio suite also has been added, with the hope of an Internet radio station in the future. 

As the only fulltime faculty member teaching radio/television courses, Aipperspach has had the chance to have students in several courses and watch them grow in abilities and gain positions in a variety of places.

Several students are, or currently have been, with CNN in Atlanta. 

Other students have gone into teaching or are working in some media capacity with high schools, colleges, and universities.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, Mac became involved with the Texas Association of Broadcast Educators. 

With the encouragement of Dr. Bob Eubanks at Sam Houston State University, Aipperspach first became the Secretary/Treasurer of the organization and then moved up to Vice-President and then President.

He has served at the TABE Secretary/Treasurer since 1994.

He has worked hard at bringing broadcasters and educators together to benefit each other in the industry and broadcast education.

Aipperspach has always tried to provide his students with the best training possible and to be as realistically close to what they would encounter if working in the broadcast industry.

The number of assignments in his courses is immense, but the idea is for students to understand the meaning of deadlines and how things are done at radio and television stations. 

Whenever he learns of opportunities available within the industry, he encourages his students to apply for the positions to gain experience and a chance to begin their careers.

“During Mac’s impressive 38 years at Del Mar College, he has impacted the careers of thousands of broadcast professionals who are working across the country,” said Don Dunlap, President and General Manager of KEDT-FM/TV Corpus Christi.

“In South Texas, his students and graduates have fueled the broadcasting workforce for years.  Besides being a caring instructor with his students, Mac has been a mentor and positive role model to them.”

His expertise, enthusiasm and attention to the success of his students confirms that Mac Aipperspach is fully deserving to be named TAB’s 2019 Educator of the Year.

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Danita McAnally

2018 Educator of the Year

(Published August 2018)

Teachers endeavor daily to prepare the next generation of broadcasters.

The rapid-fire changes in the broadcast industry can be challenging.

But as many educators will attest, the challenges are no match for the passion and boundless enthusiasm of students.

Danita McAnally

TAB’s 2018 Educator of the Year – Danita McAnally – set extremely high standards for Texas broadcast educators to follow.

After completing her Master of Education degree from Eastern New Mexico University in 1978, McAnally joined Navarro College in Corsicana as an Instructor of Radio-TV.

In 1982, she was promoted to Director of TV where she managed the college’s LPTV station – in addition to teaching Radio-TV and Public Speaking classes.

She joined Amarillo College as an Assistant Professor of Radio-TV, Mass Communications and Speech in 1987.

McAnally held nine different positions in her nearly 28 years at the college with each position increasing in responsibility from faculty to administrator to executive.

While journalism and production are key anchors of every strong broadcast curriculum, she singled out advertising as a field that needed attention.

She understood the importance of providing stations in all market sizes a pool of talent interested in bringing the power of broadcasting to local and national advertisers.

“Danita was truly passionate about widening the ranks of education institutions engaged with the Texas Association of Broadcast Educators (TABE).

She believed, correctly, that doing so would bring a wide array of insights and perspectives to college classroom across the state,” said Mac Aipperspach, Professor of Radio/Television at Del Mar College and longtime TABE secretary/treasurer.

Throughout her two decades of involvement with TABE, she held numerous board positions and served two terms as President.

She retired from Amarillo College in 2015 and now works as a sales consultant in Amarillo, putting into practice the insights and skills she gleaned from a lifetime in the classroom.

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