UA Walton College Beta Gamma Sigma Inducts President of Fox Television Network

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Ed Wilson

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma in the Sam M. Walton College of Business honored alumnus Ed Wilson as its 2006 honorary initiate. Wilson is president of the Fox Television Network and is responsible for supervising all affiliate relations, advertising sales, legal, broadcast standards and Fox Entertainment Group integrated marketing operations for the network.

In addition, the Arkansas chapter was designated as the bronze-third top chapter in the nation. The chapter has ranked in the top three national chapters for nine years in a row.

Beta Gamma Sigma vice presidents Rivka Berman and Chenin Vadalma made the presentation at the chapter’s annual induction ceremony at the Clarion Inn on Monday, April 3.

Established in 1913, Beta Gamma Sigma is the oldest and most prestigious national academic honor society for business students. The Alpha of Arkansas Chapter was founded on the UA campus in 1932. The top 7 percent of the junior class, top 10 percent of the senior class and top 20 percent of the graduate class are extended membership in the organization.

John Norwood, who is an associate professor of business law, director of the Walton College’s Honors Program and the faculty adviser, announced the chapter had been awarded a $1,000 scholarship, which is given to chapters with exceptionally high membership-acceptance rates.

Walton College Dean Dan Worrell introduced Wilson to the crowd of more than 200 students, parents, faculty and UA administrators. Worrell said: “The Walton College and Beta Gamma Sigma are very proud to recognize Mr. Wilson as one of our exceptional graduates. He is an individual who exemplifies the qualities of leadership and vision that we try to instill in our students.”

The Alpha chapter also honored 18 other initiates from 1956 who attended the event:

Paula Smith Burress, Grace E. Clayton, Charles H. Cole, Judith McFarland Corkill, Mary L.M. Cravens, Robert J. Dudley, James Leon Duff, Charles B. Faulkner, Regena E. Fine, John F. Gardner, Eugene V. Jones, William M. Lemley, Albert Osie Minyard, Paige E. Mulhollan, Max F. Parker, Edward L. Routh, James L. Wilbourne, Craig Stuart Wood. Honorary initiate: Edward W. Reed

Wilson is a native of Rison, Ark., and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in finance from the Walton College in 1980. He began his career as a sales trainee for Viacom in New York City for three months, moved to sales in Dallas for two years, and ended up managing Viacom’s Chicago office. He returned to Arkansas to be sales manager of KATV, the ABC affiliate, in Little Rock. He had been introduced to the KATV general manager Dale Nicholson while at the University of Arkansas and the two still maintain a close relationship today.

In 1984, he managed the southern region for Paramount in Dallas and then went to the New York office to manage the eastern region, where he sold into syndication such programs as “Cheers,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Arsenio Hall Show” and “Star Trek.” Wilson moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to become senior vice president of Sony Pictures Television. In 1994, he founded MaXaM Entertainment, a distribution company, which was purchased by CBS. From there, he was named president of CBS Enterprises and its new domestic company, EYEMARK Entertainment. In 2000, Ed was recruited to be the president of NBC Enterprises and take NBC into the syndication business. Here he launched first-run series such as “Access Hollywood,” “The Jane Pauley Show,” and “The Chris Matthews Show,” as well as managed the off-network sales of “Fear Factor,” “Providence,” “Crossing Jordan” and “Boomtown.” He joined Fox in 2004.

The following students were 2005 initiates into Beta Gamma Sigma:

Juniors: Ashley Morgan Anderson, Robert Blake Area, Nicole Alana Atkins, Jennifer Lind Bell, Robert Edward Berger, Jr., Miranda Leigh Brown, Brittany Marie Callich, David Bradley Cromhout, Rebecca Davis, Blake M. Edwards, Robert Chase Feltner, Matthew Samuel Goode, John Rohan Guilfoyle, V, Allen Curtis Hall, Cleveland Matthew Heath, Holli Nicole Heiles, Katie Patricia Hoard, Cara Nichole Letzig, Rebecca Looney, Mallory Laine Maulden, Clare Young McCreery, Weston Ward Rice, Stephen A. Sisti, Lauren Speas Slabaugh, Candice Dyer Sorensen, Patrick Kyle Story, Sarah Elaine Topham, Jaclyn Tucker, Michael James Villines, Andrew Hudson Westbrook, Kim Wilkes, Lesli Nikki Wilson, Bradley Combs Wood

Seniors: Jonathan Matthew Badgett, Jessica Leigh Bell, Michael Allen Brown, Laura Marie Caviness, Alisha Louise Cersovsky, Caryn Marie Croxton, Elliot Payton Evans, Stephen Michael Foyt, Ryan Alan Goins, Amber Ann Jackson, Kristen Suzanne Jessup, Kelly Michelle Keyes, Charles F. Kuehn, IV, Meghan Anne Lyons, Lea C. Mazanec, Courtney R. McCrary, Sarah E. Miller, Paul G. Oliver, Andrea Lee Parker, Joseph David Pianalto, Sara Scalzo, Christopher Michael Skrocki, Andrea Lauren Sparks, William M. Srygley, III, Alicia Brooke Stone, Matthew Lin Swenson, Luke Marshall Terrell, Kristen Lauren Thibodeaux, Rebecca K. Tucker

Masters: Rajiv Ala, Antonieta DeMartino, Weiguo Deng, Micah Aaron Hawk, Jeremy Ray Hendrix, Wieland Hoffmann, Yao "Henry" Jin, Lee M. Johnson, Vishwanath Krishnan, Danwei Liu, Paul Darrell McDaniel, Leah Christine Morton, Jeffrey Keene Mullins, Alan David Pixley, Joseph E. Ratner, Zachary Davis Riley, Mark Stuart Smith, Paul Anthony Sproles, William Bentley Story, Sandhya Sundaram, Bharath Sundararajan, Andrea Heintz Tangari, Matthew W. Taylor, John Clay Waliski, Dongmei Wang, Kent M. Watson, Brent Dewayne Williams, Vanessa Ann Young, Guangyu Christina Zhu-Weaver

Faculty:  Gary F. Peters, Vernon J. Richardson