Media Hall of Fame - Rick Sykes

Rick Sykes, 1973, 1980, Broadcast & Cinematic Arts: Sykes is a Professor Emeritus at Central Michigan University. He retired from the University in August of 2020 as a tenured full professor. Sykes was inducted into the Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame in the fall of 2020. His teaching career spanned 24 years at CMU and included a brief tenure as the Assistant Director for the School of Broadcast & Cinematic Arts.

Sykes taught courses in news writing, news reporting, news producing and sports broadcasting. In May of 2010, he received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University.

Sykes was also responsible for overseeing a student run television news operation which produced a live newscast, several nights a week. Besides wining numerous individual awards, the news operation was instrumental in securing a 17-year string of “Station of the Year” awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation. It continues to be one of the longest “Station of the Year” winning streaks in the history of the Michigan Student Broadcast Awards Competition.

Prior to joining the faculty at the CMU, Sykes spent a total of 23 years in the communication industry including 17 years in broadcast news and six years working at a regional public relations agency as a senior executive with oversight responsibilities for two account teams. Sykes’ research agenda encompassed publishing articles and making presentations on media topics at various conferences including ones in Reykjavik, Iceland and Oxford, England.