WERS Salutes Five for Excellence in Broadcasting, Media

Emerson’s award-winning radio station WERS 88.9 FM honored four alumni and a dear friend who have made their mark in broadcasting, whether on radio, television, or media advertising.

The 2018 WERS Hall of Fame inductees were Howard Lapides ’72, CEO of Lapides Entertainment and executive producer of VH-1’s Celebrity Rehab franchise; play-by-play announcer Wayne Larrivee ’77, currently the voice of the Green Bay Packers; Anson Tebbetts ’87, former broadcast journalist and current Vermont Secretary of Agriculture; Tina Martin ’97, Edward R. Murrow Award-winning TV and radio reporter/host; and the late Nancy Ryan, former Emerson Trustee, marketing professional, and friend of WERS.

Howard Lapides began his career in radio at age 16 at WYSL-FM in Buffalo, New York. While at Emerson, he produced the top-rated The Steve Fredericks Show on WMEX, and worked weekends on-air at WEIM in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

After graduating in 1972, Lapides headed north, where he spent five years with Baton Broadcasting of Canada, first at CKLW, Windsor, and later, CFGO, Ottawa. He went on to become one of Canada’s most successful concert promoters. He also developed and hosted a post-game talk show on the Buffalo Bills radio network at WBEN radio.

As CEO of Lapides Entertainment, he executive produces a variety in shows in the U.S. and Canada, including VH-1’s Celebrity Rehab franchise, and is managing partner of Dr. Drew Productions. He is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Wayne Larrivee has been a play-by-play announcer for Westwood One for regular-season and NCAA tournament basketball games, and has served as the voice of the Green Bay Packers since 1999, having grown up a fan of the team in his native Lee, Massachusetts.

He has spent more than 30 years broadcasting NFL games, including as the radio voice of the Chicago Bears from 1985 to 1998, and calling Kansas City Chiefs games from 1978 to 1984. More recently, he did play-by-play for Big Ten Conference football and basketball for the Big Ten Network, for the Chicago Cubs, and was co-host of the nationally syndicated Pro Football Weekly radio show. From 1991 to 2008, he was play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Bulls on WGN-TV. Emerson College awarded him an Alumni Achievement Award in 2005.

Before becoming Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Anson Tebbetts was news director of WCAX-TV (Channel 3), the CBS affiliate covering Vermont, New Hampshire, northern New York, and Canada. He joined Channel 3 in 1994, first in the Rutland bureau, then in the state capital, Montpelier. He was named Montpelier bureau chief in 2001, and news director in 2009. He served as president of the Vermont Associated Press Broadcast Association, and has won numerous awards from the AP in both TV and radio.

From 2007-2009, Tebbetts, born and raised on a farm in Cabot, Vermont, took a hiatus from the news to serve as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture under Gov. Jim Douglas. In January 2017, Gov. Phil Scott appointed him Secretary. He currently co-hosts For the Birds on WDEV and WLVB radio.

Award-winning TV and radio anchor, host, and reporter Tina Martin can be heard in Boston on WGBH 89.7 FM, and seen on the WGBH-TV program Greater Boston. She is also a fill-in host for Basic Black and contributes to PBS Newshour, NPR, and the Huffington Post. She is host of WORLD Channel’s Local USA magazine series, and also hosted a WGBY-Springfield live television special called Healing Racism.

She was part of a team of three reporters who won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for WGBH’s continuing coverage of a 2016 10-alarm fire in East Cambridge, and was nominated for a New England Emmy Award for an episode of Basic Black she hosted on breast cancer and women of color. Martin won the 2016 Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting Award in the Radio category from the National Endowment for Financial Education, in partnership with the Radio Television Digital News Association. She was named one of Connecticut’s “Most Powerful and Influential Women of 2012” by the National Diversity Council.

Nancy Ryan served on Emerson’s Board of Trustees twice, first joining in 1996 and then again in 2007. For nearly three decades, Ryan helped her clients achieve their marketing goals through Pro Media, the Boston-area firm she built. She later became an independent consultant, connecting advertisers with media opportunities in a swiftly changing environment. Ryan was one of the first women honored with the Anti-Defamation League’s Torch of Liberty Award for her work to advance women professionally. She published two novels: The Disappearance of Olivia (2011) and Where Is Olivia? (2013). She passed away in August 2016.

WERS is the highest-rated student-run radio station in Boston, according to Nielsen Audio, and is consistently ranked as one of the top student-run college radio stations in the country. Student-run and professionally managed, WERS serves a mix of indie rock, alternative, and folk music.