Documentary makers

M. James Gray, B.A., 1967, (M.A., 1971), and wife Valerie have been making documentaries for the past 7 years under the name MissionFOTO. In that time they have traveled to over 40 countries, producing more than 30 films supporting efforts in the Third World. MissionFOTO, an independent documentary film company, has recently returned from a shoot in Honduras with SonLight Power, a mission from Cincinnati that provides solar power installations to schools in Third World countries outside the electric grid. SonLight has been commissioned by the First Lady of Honduras, Xiomara Castro De Zelaya, to electrify 400 schools in Honduras. MissionFOTO accompanied a team that completed schools #53, #54 and #55 during the month of July. A film is being produced currently by MissionFOTO that will be used to help raise the $1.2 million needed to bring electricity to the remaining schools.

Bill Kelly, B.A., 1978, had the documentary he produced, "Murder House," selected by American Public Television for national and international distribution. Ninety-three PBS stations selected the program for broadcast in the coming months. "Murder House" shares the stories of crime scene investigators earning a Master's degree, in part, by solving realistic, but fictional homicides. Kelly is a senior producer with NET Television, Nebraska's statewide PBS affiliate.

National Geographic

Brad Dancer, B.A., 1995, was promoted to Senior Vice President, Research Digital Media, for the National Geographic Channel. Dancer was the third employee to be hired at the National Geographic Channel; he has been with the company since its launch in May 2000.

Reference Book
Bill Eadie, Ph.D., 1974, is finishing work as editor of "21st Century Communication: A Reference Handbook," which will be in print (and online) from Sage Publications in May 2009. This 100-chapter reference work is designed to introduce the discipline of communication to undergraduates and others who may not be familiar with this field of study. The entire work will be in two volumes of about 1,000 pages each and will be marketed to university libraries. The 100 chapters are designed to be suitable for use as overview readings in classes, as well as places to start for research papers on a particular topic. Several Purdue faculty members and graduate students have contributed to this work: Charles Stewart wrote the chapter on interviewing, Erina MacGeorge and Brant Burleson wrote a chapter on social support as a quality of message-making, and Patrice Buzzanell and Rebecca Dohrman wrote a chapter on communication among supervisors, subordinates, and co-workers.