CATHY HUGHES
TIME WARNER ENDOWED CHAIR

In 2005, the Department of Radio, Television & Film (RTVF), School and University proudly welcomed Professor Catherine Liggins Hughes as its newest Time Warner Endowed Chair. The RTVF Time Warner Endowed Chair was established by a two-million-dollar donation from the Time Warner Corporation in 1999. This endowment has provided educational opportunities throughout the film, television, radio and cable industries, providing strong competitive advantages to students as they seek jobs in industries that are constantly evolving.

Cathy Hughes is the founder and chairperson of Radio One, Inc., the largest African-American owned and operated broadcast-company in the nation. Radio One is the first African-American company in radio history to dominate several major markets simultaneously. Also, for the first time in the history of radio, a #1 ranked major market station is owned by a woman. In 1995, Radio One purchased WKYS in Washington, D.C. for $40 million -- the largest transaction between two Black companies in broadcasting history.

In May 1999, Cathy Hughes and her son, Alfred Liggins (President & CEO), took their company public, making her the first African-American woman with a company on the New York Stock Exchange. Radio One’s value is currently in excess of $2 billion. In 2000, Black Enterprise named Radio One, “Company of the Year”, Fortune rated it one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and Radio One was inducted into the Maryland Business Hall of Fame.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she moved to Washington, D.C. in 1971 and became a lecturer in the newly-established School of Communications at Howard University. She entered radio in 1973 as general sales manager at Howard University’s WHUR-Radio, increasing station revenue from $250,000 to $3 million in her first year. In 1975, Hughes became the first female vice president and general manager of a station in the nation’s capital and created the format known as the "Quiet Storm" -- the most listened to nighttime radio format, heard in over 50 markets nationally. Purchasing her first station in 1980, WOL-AM (D.C.), she pioneered yet another innovative format -- “24 hour Talk from a Black Perspective.” With the theme, "Information is Power," WOL is the most listened to talk radio in the nation’s capital.

Radio One’s newest venture is TV One, Inc., launched on January 19, 2004, in partnership with Comcast, the nation’s largest pay-television provider. TV One caters to the adult lifestyles of African Americans offering quality programming such as “B. Smith with Style,” and an array of original programming. Hughes is on the board of TV One, is the Executive Producer of “The Gospel of Music with Jeff Majors,” and also hosts TV One’s interview show, “TV One on One.”

From 1999-2002, RTVF's first Time Warner Endowed Chair was noted film director and actor Bill Duke. In 2002, Chairman and CEO of de Passe Entertainment Suzanne de Passe became the second person to serve as the Time Warner Endowed Chair. The Department's ongoing Time Warner Seminar series brings some of the most influential figures in the world of film, television radio, cable and new media to Howard University's campus, including such prominent figures as producers Tim and Daphne Maxwell Reid, Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes and Jack Valenti, CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America.