UALR School Of Mass Communication Receives $1.4 Million Bequest

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) received a $1.4 million bequest from the Johnnie A. Winn Revocable Trust to benefit the School of Mass Communication.

The gift, worth $1,407,786, establishes the Dan and Johnnie Winn Memorial Scholarship in the College of Social Sciences and Communication at UALR.

The funding will provide financial assistance for any education-related expense, including but not limited to tuition, books, and fees for students pursuing degrees in the School of Mass Communication, with preference given to those majors whose career emphasis is journalism or radio.

Funding for the gift comes from the estate of Dan and Johnnie Winn, both of whom had careers and appreciation for mass communication, especially radio.

Johnnie Winn, who was 100 when she passed away Aug. 21, 2013, was the first licensed woman amateur radio operator in Arkansas. Her husband, the late Dan Winn, was a radio pioneer and one of the industry’s most respected figures until his death at 86 in 1998.

He began his career in New Orleans and was behind the creation of 30 radio stations in Arkansas after coming to Little Rock on what was supposed to be a temporary assignment.

He was the former chief engineer at radio station KARK, now KARN-AM 920, in Little Rock, from 1930 to 1977. He left that station to form his own firm and help establish the Arkansas Radio Network.

“This endowment will significantly aid us in recruiting high quality students to our program,” said Olaf Hoerschelmann, director of the School of Mass Communication.

“We are grateful for this gift and humbled by Mrs. Winn’s generosity,” said Dr. Lisa Bond-Maupin, dean of the College of Social Sciences and Communication.