MacDonald inducted into Virginia Hall of Fame

Ron MacDonald

The late Ronald H. MacDonald, who taught journalism and mass communications at Washington and Lee for more than three decades, was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame Thursday night (April 2).

“Ron received many professional congratulations and awards during the span of his career, but none would have exceeded this one,” his widow, Pat MacDonald Irons, told about 150 people at the induction ceremony at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. They included nine former colleagues and friends from Washington and Lee. Four former students of MacDonald were in attendance.

“For those of you who knew Ron, you knew that he was not one to seek recognition just for its own sake,” Irons told the gathering. “His search was for excellence in journalism. He achieved that goal in his broadcasting career, but the opportunity to teach journalism at W&L gave him the challenge to pass on his journalistic ethics and methods to younger minds. “
 
MacDonald, who died in July 2008, was one of five people elected – and the only elected posthumously – for induction this year into the Hall of Fame.

MacDonald arrived at W&L in 1969 after nearly two decades as a broadcast journalist. For 13 years he was a reporter, news director and anchor at WDBJ Channel 7 in Roanoke, where he led the station to three Douglas Southall Freeman Awards for public service and five Best News Operation of the Year citations from the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters.

His impact on journalism education at W&L was immediate and substantial. He greatly expanded news coverage at WLUR-FM, the radio station operated by the Journalism Department, and demanded professional standards of its student reporters and program hosts. For several years the station was the Lexington community’s only daily source of local news.

MacDonald also introduced a television news curriculum and regular television broadcasts to the campus. For many years, he also coordinated the department’s internship program, supervising more than 700 interns.

“Many [of his former students] credited him with having a huge impact on their lives and their professional accomplishments,” Irons said.