Bud Walters '63, Whose Love of Broadcasting Began at WGRE, Receives 2014 National Radio Award

September 12, 2014

"Please remember: do the best you can, be good at something, be important where you are, random acts of kindness, and persistence counts," said Bayard H. "Bud" Walters this afternoon as he accepted the 2014 National Radio Award. Walters, founder and president of the Cromwell Group and 1963 graduate of DePauw University, was honored this afternoon in Indianapolis during the 2014 Radio Show, produced by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).

The National Radio Award honors an individual for outstanding leadership in the radio industry.

Walters, whose passion for radio began as an undergraduate at DePauw, where he worked at student station WGRE, founded the Cromwell Group in 1972. He currently owns and operates 28 radio stations in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.

"WGRE is the first FM low-power college station in America, it was built in 1948," Walters told the national convention as he accepted the award at a luncheon.  "It's at DePauw University, 40 miles west of here, and its an extracurricular activity for most students, but for me became a career.  I had a Southern accent, so I got to do the farm news my freshman year," he said as the audience of fellow broadcasters laughed.  "I really did not know if beans were picked, plucked or pulled, so I simply said they came in.  I saw what a difference a small radio station in a small community can make, and I loved it. I was a lousy deejay, so I figured I'd better learn the business side."

He continued, "Nearly one-third of DePauw's student body does some kind of extracurricular activity at the Media Center.  It may not lead to a media career but it's a great exposure, and some DePauw media students are here and thank you for coming."

Stressing the need for broadcasters to be interconnected with the people they serve, Walters told his radio colleagues, "Do the most with where you are at and be passionate about making a difference in your community."

A member of DePauw's Board of Trustees, Bud Walters serves as chairman of the RAB board and has served on the boards of NAB and the Kentucky and Tennessee Broadcasters Associations. A speech (communication) major at DePauw and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Walters has previously been honored with Broadcaster of the Year Awards in Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee and the Broadcasters Foundation of America Pioneer Award.

Video of this afternoon's presentation is embedded below (the tribute to Bud Walters begins at approximately 25:30).

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